Effectively preparing young people to transition from out-of-home care: An examination of three recent Australian studies

Abstract

International research consistently depicts young people leaving out-of-home care (care leavers) as being particularly disadvantaged and as having significantly reduced life chances (Munro et al., 2005; Stein, 2008). This is not to suggest a simplistic causal relationship between any experiences of state care and poor later outcomes-care leavers are a heterogeneous group, and have varied backgrounds and experiences. But pre-care experiences of abuse and neglect, combined with poor incare experiences, accelerated transitions to adulthood, and a lack of ongoing support after leaving care, make many of them vulnerable to a number of poor outcomes