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Transition is the process of moving from a child focussed system to an adult orientated system. It is complicated for all children and a well-recognised point of weakness in health care. For looked after children transition is more complex with movements from social worker to personal advisor, from foster care (or children's home) to independent accommodation, from school to work, further or higher education or to none of these. It is also a time when the young person moves from children's health services to adult health services. Looked after children navigate these transition points with less support than many other children. Coincidentally, it occurs at an age when mental illness most commonly emerges. This paper describes the transitions in detail, considers the legislative framework, pathway plans and the mental health transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) acknowledges that young people without parental care are entitled to special support and assistance from the State. In detailing their expectations, the UN Committee have issued Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children which recognise that State parties have a number of responsibilities towards care leavers. The paper explores how the UNCRC reporting process, and guidelines from the Committee outlining how States should promote the rights of young people making the transition from care to adulthood, can be used as an instrument to track global patterns of change in policy and practice. Content analysis of State Party Reports and Concluding Observations from 15 countries reveals that to date there has been limited engagement with understanding and promoting the needs of this group in the reporting process; although where a government is committed to developing legislation and practice then this does find its way into their national reports. Data supplied by affiliates of the International Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care (INTRAC) reveals that national concerns, political ideology, public awareness, attitudes and knowledge of the vulnerability of care leavers influence service responses to protect and promote the rights of this group and the attention afforded to such issues in reports to the Committee. Findings also suggest that global governance is not simply a matter of top down influence. Future work on both promoting and monitoring of the impact of the UNCRC needs to recognise that what is in play is the management of a complex global/national dynamic with all its uneven development, levels of influence and with a range of institutional actors involved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The concept and aspects of extended care are widely adopted internationally. • Extended care is conceptualised in diverse ways by different countries. • Extended care is implemented in diverse ways by different countries. • Extended care is not clearly differentiated from aftercare. • There is a very limited research on the value of extended care across countries. Young people who are taken up into the care system (including foster, formal kinship and residential or group care) traditionally have to leave care at age 18, the generally accepted age of adulthood. Research globally has shown that most youth are not ready to transition to independent living at 18 and require additional support into early adulthood. One specific type of support that has gained increasing interest is extended care arrangements, including permitting young people to remain in their care placements beyond the age of 18. While widely discussed, there is a limited body of literature on the conceptualisation, implementation and evaluation of extended care, and almost no cross-national dialogue on extended care. This article aims to gather together a range of experiences on extended care and to explore the extent to which there is a cross-national consensus on the conceptualisation and operationalisation of extended care. Ten countries participated in the study, reviewing their country's extended care policy, practice and research using a common matrix. Findings reveal adoption of aspects of extended care in all countries, wide variations in how extended care is conceptualised, legislated, funded and implemented, and very little research on the effectiveness of extended care. The authors recommend resolving cross-national variations in the conceptualisation of extended care and further research on the role and contribution of extended care placements to improved outcomes for youth in diverse social, political and economic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]