Abstract
Approximately 21,000 children were accommodated in residential care in South Africa in 2011/2.
Despite this large number, and the state’s substantial financial investment in residential care, there
has, until recently, been little research on care-leaving: the transition out of care due to reaching
adulthood. Furthermore, much of the research available has not been published in international
journals. This article reports on a systematic review of research on residential care-leaving in South
Africa, from 2003 to 2016. A thematic analysis of the resulting 40 research outputs maps the scope
of findings from South African research, in relation to theory of leaving care, measurement tools
developed, young people’s experiences of leaving care, transitional outcomes, processes of leaving
care, facilitators of improved outcomes, care-leaving services and policy on leaving care. Critical
gaps in the current research opus are identified, with a view to refining future research on young
people aging out of care in South Africa.