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Case Study 4: A Mental Well-being PerspectiveBackgroundTania is a 20 year old female living in Queensland who entered foster care when she was two yearsold due to neglect and left when she was 18 years old. When Tania was 14 years old, she startedseeing a counsellor – she wasn’t given options of who she could see, just who was available. Taniabelieves that she would be worse off without counselling and the help provided as her mental healthwasn’t the best and sometimes she thought about escaping from it all. She believes that if she didn’thave the counsellor – who was often the most stable person in her life – she wouldn’t be alive today.Solutions for governmentTania’s suggested action for all governments to better support young people transitioning from careis that all children and young people in care have access to free counselling. She stated that:As a child or young person in care, you don’t really get help unless you ask, or scream for it. But a youngperson isn’t always going to know that counselling may help, or say that they need it. They need to beable to access counselling without feeling ashamed. This support needs to be thought of as long-term, notsomething that can fix things in a few weeks or months and it shouldn’t stop just because you turn 18 andthe community thinks you have become an adult. If you stop counselling it’s very hard to pick up againbecause you have to find a therapist, somehow find the money for it and start again. You have to shareyour story all over again.Case Study 5: A Youth Justice PerspectiveBackgroundToby is a 20 year old Aboriginal male who is married and lives with his wife and son in Victoria. Hewas involved with the Youth Justice system when he was 15 years old. In that time he had at leastsixty charges brought against him including assault, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolengoods, possession of weapons, possession of drugs, and criminal damage.When he was eight years old, Toby entered foster care as a result of violent behaviour towards hissiblings. When he was 10 years old he was reunified with his family before returning to high riskresidential placements at the age of 15 years.Upon transitioning from care, he was given very little notice about needing to vacate the residentialfacility, and became homeless for six months, before living with his grandparents, and then his wife.He now goes to church regularly, and wants to use his experiences to help others through writing abook using voice recognition software (he is illiterate having only completed Grade five).Leaving care planningWorkers had spoken to Toby about needing to leave care at that age of 18 years, but he thought thathe wouldn’t have to leave if he didn’t have stable accommodation to transition to. He was given verylimited options within his planning for leaving care – he was told that he would have to live withsomeone else with a similar background to his. However, as he did not want to be around negativeinfluences, he refused this accommodation option, which left him homeless for six months.36
BarriersToby stated that young people with a Youth Justice background experience barriers to accessingsupport services through a lack a trust and lack of social skills. He indicated that young people inYouth Justice are forced to become independent from an early age and, as a result, are reluctant toask others for help. He also stated that young people don’t need counselling and are reluctant toengage with more ‘workers’, although they do need emotional support through stable, supportiverelationships.Solutions for governmentFrom a juvenile justice perspective, Toby suggested a number of actions for Governments to bettersupport young people transitioning from care.• Provide more accommodation options for young people transitioning from care.• Provide more independent housing in low crime areas.• Provide mentors for young people.37
Page 3: TABLE OF CONTENTSPart A: BACKGROUND
Page 6 and 7: • reviewing and reporting on TILA
Page 8 and 9: The YAG consultations included spec
Page 10 and 11: These workers projected that the ov
Page 12 and 13: Planning needs to ensure that young
Page 14 and 15: The remainder of this Report detail
Page 16 and 17: ProcedureThe focus group questions
Page 18 and 19: PREPARATION PHASEISSUESYOUNG PEOPLE
Page 20 and 21: “...it should be made that a youn
Page 22 and 23: • Lack of support for young peopl
Page 24 and 25: PlanningISSUESAFTER CARE INDEPENDEN
Page 26 and 27: SummaryThe solutions identified by
Page 28 and 29: Appendix AStage 1: Initial Consulta
Page 30 and 31: • Young people transitioning from
Page 32 and 33: Age• Age - not being 18 can limit
Page 34 and 35: No preference• I don’t care if
Page 36 and 37: 2. Did you (do you) have a Leaving
Page 38 and 39: • Link young people in with local
Page 42 and 43: Appendix EStage 2: NYAC ForumQuesti
Page 44 and 45: Appendix FStage 3: NYAC ForumForum
Page 46 and 47: • Different educational pathways
Page 48 and 49: Independent living skills• There
Page 50 and 51: Connections to community the young
Page 52 and 53: Appendix GBest Practice ExamplesBes
Page 54: Leaving Care BrokerageBrokerage is
Page 57 and 58: Best Practice Example: Young People
Page 59: Centrelink Brochure targeting young
Page 63 and 64: 3. Service response: increase the c
Page 65 and 66: Types of employment Applying for wo
Page 67 and 68: 2. CREATE Your Future Intensive Pro
Page 69: 5. CREATE Your Future Grant SchemeT

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