Services to young people with complex support needs in rural and regional Australia: beyond a metro-centric response

Young people with complex support needs who live outside metropolitan areas face unique challenges. Issues such as poor educational and employment opportunities, homelessness, racism, problematic substance use, challenging behaviour, disability and mental illness can be magnified and lead to judgment and marginalisation in small communities such as those in rural and regional areas. As a result of poor resourcing of services in these areas, young people may be forced to transition from place to place, service to service as a way of coping with life challenges. This paper presents findings from interviews and focus groups with service providers who support such young people in regional and rural Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. Service providers reported similar challenges to professionals working in urban areas, such as navigating inter-agency and inter-professional work and dealing with funding shortages. However, these issues were amplified by the need to work across broad geographical areas, to recruit and retain skilled workers and to respond to the many structural and resource inadequacies in smaller communities. While services aimed to be responsive to young people, the challenges of providing support in a non-metropolitan context could create a context in which young people either disengaged from services or poor response resulted in systemic escalation to crisis. The implications for policy and practice are explored

Older prisoners - A challenge for Australian corrections

  Corrections statistics in Australia indicate a clear trend towards increased numbers of older prisoners and the growth of this inmate group is paralleled in prisons in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand.  Older prisoner populations present a number of challenges for governments, correctional administrators, healthcare providers and community agencies.  This paper looks at the issue of defining the older prisoner and explores the rise in older inmate populations throughout Australia - both at the national level and across the states and territories.  The concerns pertaining to the management of older prisoners are examined, including the costs of responding to rising healthcare needs, as well as issues surrounding accommodation and correctional programs for older prisoners.  Various solutions and strategies that have been adopted internationally in various correctional settings are also discussed, including the establishment of special needs units for older prisoners and the employment of specialist staff.  Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the rise in older prisoner number for corrections policymakers and researchers in the Australian context. Authors:  Susan Baidawi, Shelley Turner, Christopher Trotter, Colette Browning, Paul Collier, Daniel O’Connor and Rosemary Sheehan. Image: \u27Chock-a-block: state\u27s jails bursting at seams\u27, publik16 / flick

An integrated exploration of psychological distress among older prisoners

This thesis focuses on the mental well-being of older prisoners, the fastest growing age group in many prisoner populations. Levels of psychological distress measured among older prisoners in Victoria and New South Wales were much higher than those seen among older people in the general community. Individual fixed factors such as mental health history were found to be associated with older prisoners’ levels of distress. However modifiable aspects of the prison environment, such as the level of social support, ease of healthcare access and suitability of the built environment, were also key elements associated with older prisoners’ levels of distress

Neurodisability among Children at the Nexus of the Child Welfare and Youth Justice System

Although neurodisability features significantly across child welfare and youth justice cohorts, little research investigates neurodisability among crossover children with dual systems involvement. This study examined differences in childhood adversity, child protection involvement, and offending among crossover children by neurodisability status. Data were from a sample of 300 children (68% male, 31% female, 1% transgender; mean age = 16.2 years, range 10-21) who were charged and appeared in three Australian children's courts, and who also had statutory child protection involvement in the study jurisdiction. The results indicated that nearly one-half of crossover children had a neurodisability (48%) and this group experienced greater cumulative maltreatment and adversity, earlier out-of-home care entry and offending onset, more caregiver relinquishment and residential care placement, and a greater volume of charges. While substantial differences between specific neurodisabilities were evident, crossover children with any neurodisability had greater odds of having charges related to criminal damage and motor vehicle theft, however they were no more likely to have violent charges relative to other crossover children. The study's findings demonstrated that the prevalence of neurodisability, and child welfare system responses to this phenomenon, contributes to several offending-related trends observed among crossover children

Indigenous Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) in Victoria, Australia: The Perspectives of Workers in Indigenous-Specific and Non-Indigenous Non-Government Services

Indigenous children and young people are overrepresented in the Australian out-of-home care (OOHC) system. To date, specific research has not been undertaken on workers\u27 perspectives regarding the Indigenous-specific and non-Indigenous supports and services available to Indigenous young people exiting the system. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with workers from seven child and family welfare agencies to examine the current support services available to Indigenous young people who are in or will be leaving out-of-home care in the State of Victoria. Findings suggest that Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) play a positive role in working with non-Indigenous agencies to assist Indigenous care leavers. Participants identified some key strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous services, and improving the resourcing of ACCOs