Fifteen young people who emerged from institutional care have just completed their training programme in a trade of their choice, with the help of an EU-funded project.

Headstart, a programme run by the Housing Authority and funded by the European Social Fund's Equal project, started in January 2005 and provided a holistic package that included job training and access to affordable housing.

Some of these young people chose to further their studies while others are undergoing work placements or have already found employment.

The authority is now helping them all to secure employment and affordable housing.

"These young persons have to leave these institutes at the age of 18 and they enter the world on a very vulnerable footing as they are often without a home or a job," authority chairman Marisa Micallef said.

The programme offered them vocational guidance, training, work placement and mentoring.

The authority also felt it was important for them to try and experience living individually together in small groups.

"It was incredibly difficult to find accommodation for these young people and in a country riddled with stigma it was challenging to find landlords who were willing to rent to kids who came out of homes, even though we were willing to give all the guarantees possible," she said.

"However, with a lot of effort this challenge was overcome. This seems to have been a very beneficial programme for young people leaving institutes and the authority hopes that this programme will serve as a blueprint for others leaving care."

Ms Micallef added that the Employment and Training Corporation had a pivotal role in this project, by guiding these young people in following training programmes that were of interest to them.

Eventually mentors were also employed to help them manage the difficulties they encountered on a day-to-day basis. Life skills courses were also organised with topics such as communication skills, time management and decision-making.

This project is now coming to an end and the authority is collaborating with its transnational partners from Lithuania to Northern Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands by disseminating the results, sharing learning materials and good working practice.