Poverty to more poverty: An evaluation of transition services provided to adolescent girls from two institutions in Zimbabwe

• Adolescent girls inside institutions A and B access to similar assets, which meet their basic needs.
• Adolescent girls outside care lose more stocks of assets, resulting in increased poverty.
• The services/support being provided are inadequate in meeting the needs of adolescent girls inside and outside care.

Adolescent girls leaving institutional care in Zimbabwe need transition services and programmes to counter the socio-economic risks they face in their transitions to adulthood and out of institutional care. Using the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA), this study evaluated the services/support being provided by key transition service providers (the government and institutions) to meet the livelihood needs of adolescent girls transitioning from institutions A and B in Harare, Zimbabwe. Face to face interviews were conducted with 32 adolescent girls (sixteen inside institutions, aged 15–18, and sixteen discharged from institutions, aged 18–21). Key informant interviews were held with superintendents of the respective institutions and the district social services officer from the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services. Findings indicate that adolescent girls have access to similar assets inside care. Due to non-provision of services/support by institutions and minimal services/support provision by the government, care leavers lose larger stocks of assets, making them poorer than their counterparts in care. This study concludes that the services and support being provided by institutions A and B and the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services are not adequate in meeting the livelihood needs of adolescent girls and hence, result in negative livelihood outcomes beyond care. As a poverty reduction strategy, this study recommends the allocation of adequate resources for the provision of comprehensive services/support that promotes the achievement of sustainable livelihoods during and after care.