'You're in chaos - and no one knows it': daily functional experience of young women emerging from out-of-home care in Israel

Background: Care leavers are considered a vulnerable population, for whom the transition from care into the community holds many challenges. Existing research focuses mainly on the psychosocial toll that care leavers' history has on their lives, while knowledge about their daily functioning and participation is scarce.Objective: This study explored Israeli female care leavers' daily experience using a functional approach, investigating characteristics, challenges, and strengths as facilitators or barriers to daily participation.Method: Using a qualitative phenomenological descriptive approach, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were thematically analysed.Results: Four key themes emerged: (1) the impact of childhood home environments on daily life; (2) transitioning into adulthood from a functional perspective; (3) outlining and framing daily functional activities; and (4) factors enabling perseverance and hope.Conclusions: Functional role modelling, executive functions, routines, and habits should be considered regarding care leavers, particularly women. The variability and complexity of results underscore the importance of future research to advance the development of tailored intervention, including assessment of daily functional skills framed in routines, cognitive abilities, and health-related difficulties, in this population.