Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care in Victoria
Young people in out-of-home care (OoHC) may experience a range of health, educational and social inequities due to childhood adversity and experiences within the OoHC system. When young people transition from OoHC at 18 years of age, it is recognised that their experience of disadvantage is compounded, with care leavers at risk of poor outcomes post-transition. While governments, Community Service Organisations (CSOs), and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) support young people to plan to leave OoHC, this transition to independence occurs significantly earlier and with less support than in the general population. While government guidelines exist to guide successful transitions from care (i.e., housing, education engagement, life skills, cultural connections), the prevalence of adverse outcomes for young people leaving OoHC indicates the guidelines are not being implemented consistently.
This study was conducted in the State of Victoria and led by the Department of Social Work and the Health and Social Care Unit (HSCU), Monash University in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA), MacKillop Family Services, Anglicare Victoria, Baptcare, the Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (DFFH) and the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. The project aimed to generate new knowledge to inform the development and implementation of evidence-based innovations for young people as they transition from OoHC. This study was approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (39433).
The aims of the study were to:
- identify the factors that enable smooth transitions from care;
- assess the quality of transition planning documentation used in current practice; and
- explore the barriers and enablers to the successful implementation of transition planning from the perspective of OoHC staff, carers, and young people.
To date, four components of this project have been undertaken:
- scholarly literature review;
- grey-literature review;
- assessment by researchers of the quality of Transition Plans in OoHC; and
- an exploration of the implementation barriers and enablers from the experiences of staff, carers, and young people.