This paper analyzes the ways in which young female“care leavers” (from shelters, foster homes) invent new life possibilities under conditions that,at first, could reinforce their vulnerability and lack of power. The analysis is based on an ethnographicstudy carried out between 2010 and 2013 and focuses on the deinstitutionalization of young women from Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. These young women’sexperiences of deinstitutionalization could be considered from the perspective of the gaps left by the protection policies after departing from foster care. However, as much as these experiences are marked by “a kind of continuous improvisation,” such strategy does reveal more than a simple “survival tactics”. Thus, the idea is to reflect upon these ways of lifeunder thelight of the analytical key of “invention”, as proposed by Roy Wagner. Among the pathways for invention, we highlight the upbringing of children, the manner with which these young women subvert the dynamics of welfare policies and the discovery of what they know and like to do.
Young female“care-leavers”; Invention; Foster care services; Public policies