Homelessness is common for teens leaving out-of-home-care. We need to extend care until they are at least 21

Sun, 29 May 2022 22:36:46 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/homelessness-is-common-for-teens-leaving-out-of-home-care-we-need-to-extend-care-until-they-are-at-least-21-181167>

"Young people transitioning from out-of-home care – whether it’s foster,
kinship or residential care – are disadvantaged in many ways. Many have
experienced abuse, neglect, family hardship or illness. They may feel long-term
grief due to family separation.

And while some enjoy stable placements with committed foster or kinship carers,
others – particularly those in residential care, supervised by rostered staff –
may experience instability as friends or support workers come and go.

Most exit the out-of-home care system at 18, or younger, without ongoing
support.

Unfortunately, however, many such young people quickly encounter homelessness,
unemployment and contact with the criminal justice system soon after leaving
out-of-home care. Instead of leaving these people to fend for themselves at age
18 (or younger), we need a nationally consistent model of extended care that
supports care leavers until age 21."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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