Given the risks that the COVID-19 pandemic presented and considering the PH&S measures, such as the Lockdown, stay at home orders, social distancing, and restriction on both private and public means of transport, we deemed telephone inquiry proper for interviewing the participants Table 1. All the participants we interacted with have been in residential care with SOS children Villages either Uganda (6) or Ghana (5). The participants had all left residential care within a period ranging from 11 months to 2 months before the interviews and were facing the COVID-19 pandemic as care leavers. We contacted three of the 11 participants through a snowball process. Care leavers from the SOS Children’s Village were purposively selected because of its presence in the two countries and similar approaches to care across the two countries. Six of the care leavers had left the care of SOS children village in Uganda while five had left care in SOS children’s Village in Ghana. Overall, 11 care leavers consented and participated in the study. In addition, recruited participants were to provide information about their potential peers who would take part in the study.

The research team, working closely with practitioners in residential care facilities, identified and nominated care leavers who met the inclusion criteria. Purposive sampling was used to select care leavers who meet the following criteria: had been in residential care and left care in less than a year.

Nvivo for thematic analysis