Between Control and Protection: Separated young people's experiences of the transition to adulthood in Northern France.

Aged-out separated children (those who are outside their country of origin, without their parent or customary/ legal guardian and have recently turned eighteen) confront significant challenges as they navigate the transition to adulthood due to a lack of family support and because of their distinctly limited access to state support. In France, the situations of aging-out separated children are particularly complex due to their accelerated transition to adulthood, the limited aftercare supports available to them, and the challenges they confront in negotiating a complex maze of restrictive migration and asylum systems. Representing a ‘multi-layered social problem’, when they age-out of care, separated young people face a paradoxical existence between the “compassion” of child protection systems and the “repression” of immigration controls (Frigoli, 2010 p. 96). The aim of the presentation is to explore the implications of these two contradictory policies arenas on the young people’s lives during their transition to adulthood, focusing particularly on legal residence, administration, and social rights. There is a lack of research on this highly marginalised youth population and their perspectives are rarely heard or considered. Therefore, this presentation draws from participatory action PhD research that examines 12 separated young people’s experiences of the transition to adulthood in Northern France.