The Africa Network of Care-Leaving Researchers (ANCR) was created in 2016. We are an informal network of researchers, scattered throughout the African continent, interested in advancing research on young people leaving care. By ‘care‘ we mean alternative or out-of-home care, such as children’s homes and foster care. We are interested in understanding the process of leaving such care, which we call ‘care-leaving’ (elsewhere it is called ‘youth transitions from out-of-home care’ or ‘aging out of care’), and the young people who are leaving care, whom we call ‘care-leavers‘.
Our purpose is to understand the care-leaving process and to contribute towards child and youth care policy and practice to improve the kinds of supports provided to care-leavers (in terms of practice, programmes, policy and legislation).
The purpose of the ANCR website is to share our research. It is a space for collaboration between researchers in Africa, though those from outside Africa are also welcome to browse. Because Africa is so diverse and under-resourced, and because academics and researchers are few and often isolated due to poor telecommunication infrastructure, we hope that this site will enable us to draw a little closer and benefit from the collective wisdom of the group.
In addition, we aim to generate a body of knowledge on care-leavers and the care-leaving process that is relevant to Africa. The growing international body of literature on these topics is dominated by the Global North, notably the USA, UK and Australia. Voices from the Global South, such as from Africa, are marginalised. In part, this is because we are few and isolated. In part this is the legacy of colonialism. This site aims to shift this situation by drawing together and sharing African research on care-leaving, so that we build up indigenous and contextually-relevant theory and practice, while also recognising and appreciating our colleagues from the North.
The conveners of ANCR are:
- Prof Adrian van Breda (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) avanbreda@uj.ac.za
- Dr Kwabena Frimpong-Manso (University of Ghana, Ghana) KFrimpong-Manso@ug.edu.gh
Members are scholars living and/or researching in Africa. We also invite non-Africans to join as a ‘friend of ANCR’ to follow and support our work.
Our website is:
INTRAC 