Thanks to the greatly increased interest in the experiences of young people leaving state care, there is now a much better understanding of how vulnerable this group is when making the transition to adulthood. It is also now clear that there must be interrelated formal and informal support provided to young people when leaving and after leaving care if their life chances are to be significantly improved. This article extends the logic of that systemic thinking to embrace the challenge of globalisation as a necessary aspect of contemporary thinking about care leaving. It recognises the difficulties in developing an international perspective but suggests a model for promoting cross national exchange. An agenda is suggested around which global networking could be built in order to ensure that advances being made for care leavers in any one country are both secured against the negative impact of globalisation and become part of a global resource.

This paper describes and reflects on a Western Australian initiative in which a university Department of Social Work and Social Policy developed a partnership with a major hank’s staff charity and the West Australian Association of Young People in Care (WAAYPIC) to develop a preparatory Life Skills Workshop and a Peer Mentoring programme for young people about to leave State care. The programme was designed and provided by WAA YPIC members.

The paper reflects on partnership processes in securing funding and implementing two pilot projects for care graduates. There is a review of predominantly United Kingdom and Australian research literature on the experiences and life-chances of young people leaving the care of the ‘government as parent’. Notions of social justice and ‘good enough parenting’ are challenged. While their peers living with birth parents are leaving home in their mid-20s, able to rely on emotional and financial support from their families, the average age of leaving care is 17 years and the quality and continuity of emotional and financial support is problematic.

The author describes and reflects on local initiatives in leaving care policies and programmes and goes on to reflect on the growing arguments for a national system of service standards and necessary funding to achieve these standards. Recent UK initiatives are reviewed in the context of the 2005 FACE TO FACE Workshop on leaving care needs and policies in Australian States and Territories.

Young people ‘ageing out of care’ have to manage multiple transitions – leaving ‘home’, moving into independent accommodation, leaving school and trying to find work or some other means of support, becoming financially independent, and often becoming parents - at a much younger age and with fewer resources and supports than other young people their age. This paper presents the findings of the fourth interview in the follow-up to the Longitudinal Study of Wards Leaving Care study in New South Wales, and focuses on three main questions. How were these young people faring 4–5 years after leaving care compared with other young people their age? How were they faring compared with their circumstances and outcomes 12 months after leaving care? What predicted better outcomes and not-so-good outcomes? While the pattern of low levels of educational attainment, and high rates of unemployment, mobility, homelessness, financial difficulty, loneliness and physical and mental health problems was consistent with that from other research in England, Ireland, Canada and the United States, some young people were faring quite well and much better than others. Understanding why is important in trying to support young people leaving care. The paper highlights some of the implications for policy and practice.

On any given night in Victoria, around 4,000 children and young people live under the care and protection of the State. For many young people, this care extends over a long period of time, sometimes until their 18th birthday. It is well documented that young people leaving State care often lack the social and economic resources to assist them in making the transition into independent living. As a consequence, the long-term life outcomes from this group are frequently very poor. A recent report from the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare in partnership with Monash University estimated that, for a typical cohort of 450 young people who leave care in Victoria each year, the direct cost to the State resulting from these poor outcomes is $332.5 million. The estimated average outcomes of the leaving care population are based on a recent survey involving sixty young people who had spent at least two years in care as teenagers. This paper provides an overview of the economic methodology used to estimate this cost, and provides discussion of the motivation for measuring outcomes in terms of costs to the State.

Children enter state care because their parents are unable to care for them or because of abuse and neglect. Invariably they experience considerable distress and emotional trauma with many having clinically significant mental health problems. Few, however, receive the assessment, counselling and supportive services that they need. When they leave care, many experience extensive problems including mental health difficulties, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, relationship difficulties and lack of social support.

This paper will discuss the findings of a qualitative study utilising in-depth interviews with young people who have been in state care. Illustrations of their pathways to and from care will highlight their experiences, and direct quotations from the participants will provide particular insights into the complex issues they have had to confront.

The paper will outline key opportunities for prevention and intervention approaches at various points along these pathways.

This article builds on research work undertaken by MacKillop Family Services on the experience of care leavers to explore the importance of the relational aspects of human service work. Recent legislative changes have focused on the availability of services and supports to young people transitioning from care. The authors suggest that it is time to refocus attention on the relationships between young people leaving care and human service workers. Such a discussion opens up models of practice that encourage flexible and participatory approaches.

Young people leaving state care have been found to experience deficits in all aspects of their life cycle. These include homelessness, poor educational and employment outcomes, involvement in juvenile crime and prostitution, mental and physical health problems, early parenthood and inadequate social support systems. These poor outcomes experienced by care leavers result from a range of factors relating to their pre-care abuse and neglect, poor quality and unstable care history and inadequate support for their successful transition to independence. Young people leaving state care in Victoria are currently lacking the ongoing and guaranteed support that would be expected of a good parent. Using relevant local and international literature and findings from a qualitative study involving 10 care leavers, this paper examines the factors that contribute to negative as well as positive outcomes for young people leaving state care. Some conclusions are drawn regarding policy and practice reforms that could lead to improved outcomes for care leavers.

‘Whitelion’ is a non profit organisation that supports disadvantaged young people and helps make our community a more inclusive and safer place. Each year thousands of youths are disconnected from their families and our community due to abuse, neglect, drug addiction and poverty. These young people have often had horrific life experiences with few positive role models and are caught in a ‘cycle of discouragement’. Many of them end up in out-of-home care or the juvenile justice system. Whitelion gives them the best chance to ‘break the cycle’ through positive role modelling, mentoring and employment, and the opportunity to build positive lives for themselves.

Clare Griffin is the Mentoring Team Leader at Whitelion. She has worked with young people involved with the out-of-home care system in a variety of roles over the past eight years.