From journal articles to Quick Guides and webinars, you will find tools and information to support.
The last OPEN Forum of 2022 centred around innovations in out-of-home care, aiming to enhance the well-being of children and young people entering the care system, residing in residential care, or engaged with allied support services. Presentations featured topics such as The Care Hub, an innovative model of collaborative practice by Anglicare Victoria, the Improving Care Initiative by DFFH, and Empathy & Action: Learning from care leavers by The Centre.
This free online international conference features live and pre-recorded sessions from various countries, including the USA, Australia, Israel, South Africa, Ghana, Italy, and Wales. The conference focuses on sharing current research on supporting care leavers' transition to parenthood. Presentations cover topics such as housing needs among care-experienced young parents, the implications of routine practices for pregnant and parenting teens in alternative care, and early pregnancy and parenting experiences of young women who have left care in Ghana and Uganda.
The CREATE Foundation has released a report on the transition from out-of-home care for young people, addressing the challenges and key issues they face, including education, health, accommodation, and family relationships. This valuable resource equips family service practitioners with insights to better support young individuals navigating the leaving care process.
This International Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect study analysed survey data from young people with lived experience of the foster care system about the effects COVID-19 had on many life outcomes. The study highlights the impact on LGBTQIA+ young people with recommendations for extra support while transitioning out of OOHC.
This Children and Youth Services Review report analysed the effects of face-to-face contact with birth parents for children in non-kinship foster care from 21 studies. The report provides insights into the variables that encouraged family reunification and improvement in children's wellbeing.
This Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report has collated out-of-home care records from 1990-2001 and Centrelink data and provides information about income support payments received while transitioning out of care and beyond.
This Monash University research article engages qualitative data from service practitioners to help identify factors that can lead out-of-home care leavers to become parents before age 21. Some key themes included feelings of loss and isolation and poor sex education with implications for service practitioners.
This research article uses multiple government departments' data investigating the relationship between out-of-home care leavers and homelessness. This report recommends a multidisciplinary, holistic and collaborative approach to housing pathways for the care-leaving population.
This New South Wales Office of the Advocate of Children and Young People report investigates the experiences of children and young people in the out-of-home-care system, with OOHC system improvement recommendations grounded in the lived experience of OOHC children and young people.
