‘Setting Them up to Fail’

Abstract

Child protection and youth justice are the two most significant statutory systems involved in the care of children and adolescents in Australia. Care leavers are one of the most disadvantaged and marginalised populations in our society. Their precare experiences of abuse and neglect, their often poor in-care experiences, their accelerated transitions to adulthood, and the lack of ongoing support they receive upon leaving care make them vulnerable to a number of poor social and economic outomes. Leaving care is formally defined as the cessation of legal responsibility by the state for young people living in out of home care ('OHC'). In Australia, young people in OHC are expected to commence preparation for leaving care from the age of 15 or 16; by the time they are 18 years old, the state ceases legal responsibility for the care and welfare of this group. Individual states and territories have legislated for the provision of postcare services for this group, with supports generally available until the age of 21, or up until 25 years in some jurisdictions (for example, New South Wales and Western Australia).