Bhubaneswar, Nov 11: A virtual 1st Odisha state level Care Leavers convention was held with the presence of state team of Odisha State Child Protection Society (OSCPS), senior officials of Women and Child Development department& Mission Shakti,Govt.of Odisha, Officials of UNICEF, District Child Protection Officers and the Care Leavers.

The main objective of the event was to discuss the challenges, priorities and needs of Care leavers in the process of their transitioning to the independent living and to ensure that care leavers are equipped with the knowledge, skills, resources, and support networks that facilitate their smooth transition from the institutional care system to independent living.

Anu Garg, Principal Secretary to Govt. DWCD & MS shared the state prospective on after care. She elaborated the state prospective to support care leavers in their journey and invited all participants to share their achievements as well as struggles to enable the Govt. to support them with the available resource and schemes.

Aravind Agrawal,IAS, Director, ICDS & SW and OSCPS in introductory remarks explained about the recent initiatives in policy for the betterment of children in need and welcomed the participants.

More than 250 numbers of young adults who left Chilld Care Institutions after attending 18 years of age has participated in the programme. Many of them including Kalyani Rath, presently working as nursing faculty at Prativa Devi College of Nursing, Bhubaneswar and Robert Livingstone Bethal working as finance officer in Orien Company in Bangalore shared their experiences on their transition from institutional living to independent living.