Care leavers are vulnerable group

1. Young people transitioning from out-of-home care: Examining interagency collaboration, leaving care plans and post-care support services for dual clients of child protection and youth justice: Address to World Forum Conference, 20 October 2011 by Philip Mendes

2. Care leavers are vulnerable group • Evidence of over-representation in youth justice and adult justice systems • Number of contributing factors such as child abuse and neglect, placement instability, residential care and unsupported transitions from care.

3. But we still lack knowledge of: • The particular circumstances that lead care leavers to offend; • The inter-agency collaboration by child protection and youth justice services for these dual clients in terms of their respective roles and responsibilities.

4. Pilot research study in partnership with Whitelion to examine the inter-relationship between the child protection and youth justice systems, and particularly to explore the processes that take place when young people involved in the youth justice system leave state care.

5. Themes and findings regarding reasons for over-representation, child protection support, leaving care plans, inter-agency collaboration, YJ response to abuse and trauma, and preventive programs.

6. Implications for policy and practice: A range of pre-care, in-care and leaving care factors and experiences influence the entry of young people with out-of-home care experience into the youth justice system. It is evident that we currently know very little about the background of this group of young people (at least in Victoria) such as the type of maltreatment or other reasons behind their entry into care, the age of their entry into care, their level of placement stability and type of placement(s), the age at which they left care, their leaving care plan and supports, and any major gender differences.

7. New study in partnership with seven Victorian non-government organisations aims to: • Identify preventive models that will ideally reduce the over-representation of young people from OHC in the Youth Justice system; • Identify improved policies and programs that will facilitate more effective pathways for those care leavers already involved with Youth Justice.