«Back to previous

Research to track young Victorians leaving care

Thursday, 02 February 2012

Victorian Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge today announced a $1 million longitudinal research study on young people transitioning from state care.

About 400 young Victorians between 16 and 18 years of age leave child protection out-of-home care every year.

They are a highly vulnerable and disadvantaged population who often lack any form of family or social support mechanisms.

A range of government-funded services is available to assist with the transition from care but for many young people it is a challenging time and they can struggle to attain and maintain housing, education and employment.

The Victorian Coalition Government has committed $1 million to fund a research project that will track a cohort of young people in out-of-home care over a period of four years to better understand the difficulties these young people face, the life outcomes resulting from time in out-of-home care, and how these young people can be better supported and assisted.

"This research will be the first of its kind in Victoria and will provide an empirical evidence base that will be invaluable for policy-makers and service providers in Victoria and across the country," Ms Wooldridge said.

"The research will be conducted independently and supported by a project reference group comprising representatives of government, the community sector and young care-leavers."

Out-of-home care includes kinship care, foster care and residential care. On any given day there are around 6,000 children and young people living in out-of-home care in Victoria.

Tender information is available on the Victorian Government tenders system website at www.tenders.vic.gov.au/tenders/home.do 

Download PDF 43.51 Kb