Abstract
Youths in out-of-home care residing in alternative living arrangements in Korea must leave the placement by their 25th birthday. In the transition to independence from out-of-home care, they often encounter significant financial and psychological difficulties. This study employed a qualitative phenomenological methodology using Colaizzi’s phenomenological data analysis to extract, organize, and analyze the data. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten female youths living independently after being discharged from youth shelters. Unstructured and open-ended questions were asked to collect clear and sufficient descriptions regarding participants’ lived experiences of female youths after leaving out-of-home care. Our analyses revealed four themes in transitioning from out-of-home care to independent living related to their experiences of beginning to stand alone; becoming a grown-up suddenly; needing a helping hand to deal with the emptiness in life; and hope for the future. Out-of-home youths struggled and needed help from supportive policies and institutions to achieve financial, social, and psychological stability while becoming independent. These findings should encourage practitioners and policymakers to strengthen and expand tailored and long-term support systems for successful independent living for out-of-home youths in Korea.