As part of the EU-AMIF funded project “My Coming of Age Story – CO.A.ST”, KIND is proud to collaborate with expert organizations like the European Guardianship Network (EGN), which contribute their expert advice as members of CO.A.ST’s Scientific Advisory Board. EGN is a network of guardianship authorities and agencies, (local) authorities, European agencies (EUAA and FRA) and international and non-governmental organizations (UNHCR, UNICEF and IOM) which provides key support and resources to guardians of unaccompanied and separated children in Europe.
EGN exchanges good practices, expertise and other relevant information and sharing ideas and cooperation on common challenges and cross-border work.
EGN recently led a session at a training delivered as part of the CO.A.ST project called Self-Care and Wellbeing for Caregivers and Child Protection Actors. Following on from that insightful session, we were lucky to have caught up with Terry Smith, EGN’s Project Manager, to further discuss the key role that guardians play in supporting unaccompanied and separated children as they come of age.
Can you tell us more about the European Guardianship Network’s work and why supporting children as they prepare to transition to adulthood is such a critical focus?
The European Guardianship Network (EGN) began operating in 2018 with funding from the European Commission, via a direct grant, and from Nidos, which is the Dutch guardianship Agency. The Network is still going strong in 2026, and we continue to be funded by the Commission, as part of their CERV programme, and by Nidos.
The broad aims of EGN are to strengthen the provision of national guardianship systems for unaccompanied children in EU Member States as well as to enhance the practice of guardians for unaccompanied children in Europe by deepening support and capacity building skills for guardian’s role. We also aim to strengthen child Participation.
Ultimately, though, EGN exists to improve guardianship provision so that children receive better outcomes.
What is the key role that guardians play in preparing unaccompanied children in their transition to adulthood?
Transition to adulthood can be a challenging time for all young people, though it can be fun as well, and this is certainly true for unaccompanied children, too. A key player supporting most young people through this period in their lives is often a parent or other established and trusted carer. For unaccompanied children, this figure is not there and hence their appointed guardian becomes a pivotal figure in their journey to adulthood.
Guardians have a key role in providing tailored information to the young person and they play a critical role in liaising with all other actors involved in the transition process and as such they serve as a focal point and hold ‘the whole picture’ of what is happening in the child’s life. The guardian also consults with the child, advises them and acts as an advocate on their behalf. Last, but by no means least, the guardian is a key figure in supporting the preparation of a transition plan and ensuring that the child is involved in pulling this together.
I do get annoyed when I hear comments like “these children are streetwise,” or, “their journeys have made them resilient,” etc. as these statements imply that the transition to adulthood isn’t such a big deal for unaccompanied children – when it couldn’t be further from the truth. And that’s not in any way seeking to undermine or devalue the strength and resilience of these young people. So having pointed out the importance to a young person of being supported by a guardian as they transition to adulthood it follows that we should look at their role in this process. In addition to providing emotional support throughout the whole transitions process, guardians are usually the only person who seeks to ensure that all decisions connected to ‘coming of age’ have the child’s best interests as a primary consideration.
The European Guardianship Network places great importance on engaging directly with children to understand their perspectives. What key insights or messages can you share from these interactions?
Young people consistently highlight themselves that stepping into adulthood is an important phase for them. Whilst ‘coming of age’ is generally perceived as a time for celebration it can also have its challenges and uncertainties. Young people tell us that they face many specific issues relating to transitions that are often linked to their applications for international protection or are in some way linked to their status and the fact that they have migrated. These include the immediate loss of ‘procedural’ safeguards for children and in particular this increases the possibility that they may be returned to their country of origin. Needless to say, this increases their anxieties and undermines their sense of stability. They often find that they are transferred from child-focused accommodation to adult reception provision which often exposes them to risk of harm and where their needs as young people are left unaddressed. Sometimes there is disruption to current education or employment as well as possible reduced access to health care. This is a period where many unaccompanied children experience the ending of financial support for legal representation while there are sudden increased expectations for them to understand and navigate the asylum or other determination procedures, and crucially, in many cases, the ending or reduction of the support of a guardian. Many young people tell us that following their move into adulthood they often feel that they have been abandoned and it can be an uneasy and lonely time for them.
What challenges do guardians face in preparing these young people for adulthood?
If you talk to anyone who acts as a guardian for unaccompanied children, they will tell you lots of positive things about their work and I’m confident that ultimately, they’ll affirm that this is a rewarding and worthwhile role. Having said that, being a guardian is a challenging and demanding role and I understand why burn out is an issue and many guardians often feel that they work alone with minimal support, sometimes feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility regarding the children and young people with whom they work.
Thinking about their role in the transitions process, guardians mention specific challenges which include working with high caseloads which makes it difficult to prepare young people for turning 18 or providing support after they have turned 18. Guardians often highlight a lack of tailored training leading to a bit of a knowledge gap and lack of understanding of what children experience as well as what they need as they transition to adulthood.
There are also difficulties in understanding the complexity of support available to young people transitioning to adulthood and linked closely to this, difficulties in understanding the complexities of changes within the asylum or other determination procedures. Guardians also face a lack of clarity about their role from other actors and consequential diluting of their effectiveness
What message would you like to share about the path forward to better support for unaccompanied children transitioning to adulthood and their guardians?
As I mentioned previously, the process of transitioning to adulthood is s a big deal for unaccompanied children. If we fail to support them and if we get it wrong, we run the risk that young people are left feeling bewildered about what is happening to them which can be frightening. This can lead to a sense of hopelessness and lack of direction and stability.
These children can be forced ‘underground’ and into a marginal existence without access to support and protection, and the door that is the risk of exploitation can be opened in front of them – and, once opened, this door leads to a large number of dangers. But perhaps the biggest loss is that young people will fail to realise their full potential.
This has immense consequences for their lives and wellbeing, but also for us all, when we allow young people, who could contribute so much to positively impact our societies, to slip through our fingers.
At EGN we understand that, owing to the differing contexts within which guardianship is placed, there are several different models for the delivery of these services. I won’t go into detail here but, suffice to say that it is hard to find a ‘mirror version’ of a guardianship service within the EU. We have a set of standards and we believe that if they are fully and consistently applied a child will receive quality guardianship whatever the model that is used for the delivery of guardianship. These are:
- Non-discrimination
- Responsibility & Accountability
- Independence & Impartiality
- Child-centered Approach
- Child Participation
- Quality
- Collaboration and Sustainability
You can read more about these standards on our website www.egnetwork.eu .
As part of the My Coming of Age Story – CO.A.ST project, KIND and project partners are developing policy recommendations to improve support systems for guardians and a regional toolkit, designed as a practical resource for guardians as the young people in their care approach adulthood. The project’s findings and tools will be presented at the final conference in Brussels, March 2026.
My Coming of Age Story (CO.A.ST) is a project co-funded by the European Union and carried out by a consortium of organizations led by CIR – Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati (Italy), in partnership with KIND (Belgium and Slovakia), Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (France), ELIL – European Lawyers in Lesvos (Greece and Poland), and PIC (Legal center for the protection of human rights and the environment, Slovenia).
