Bulletin

Issue: November/December 2006

News

Young people leaving state care need more support

Young people leaving state care are arguably one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society.

“These people face particular difficulties in accessing educational, employment, housing and other developmental and transitional opportunities,” says Dr Jennifer Lehmann, a lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy on La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus.

This has been highlighted in a special edition of the Children Australia journal, focusing on major questions dealing with young people leaving state care. Dr Lehmann is a specialist in studies of community services management and program evaluation and regular editor of Children Australia.

She says studies show that poor outcomes for many children who leave care reflect emotional trauma resulting from abuse and neglect prior to care, inadequate support while in care, accelerated transitions to adulthood and lack of guaranteed ongoing financial and other assistance to help facilitate this transition.

“Research into young people leaving care indicates that better support and services can lead to better outcomes for care leavers. What is clearly needed is the provision of stable and supportive placements with a positive attitude to education,” says Dr Lehmann.

Maintenance of links with family members or community supports, a flexible process for graduating from dependence to interdependence, the involvement of young people in the leaving care planning and decision-making process, and accommodation options and ongoing support are also essential.

“Strangely, there is little, if any, analysis or explanation as to why governments have failed to provide sufficient resources and assistance to care leavers.”

Dr Lehmann says the journal, based on papers from a recent conference, highlights significant political, economic, and practical barriers to introducing effective leaving care services.

It points out that most child welfare systems are crisis driven. They prioritise the rescuing of children and young people from abuse and neglect, rather than providing support for those already in substitute care or transition from care.

Many policy makers don’t understand, or prefer to ignore, that leaving care is an integral part of the child welfare continuum - and that the state as substitute parent has a legal and moral responsibility to provide ongoing support to care leavers.

Dr Lehmann says a recent report from the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare has shown leaving care supports are cost effective, reducing later demands on government health and welfare support.

Stories that help to teach

Dr Lehmann is also author of a book dealing with children and families, titled The Harveys and Other Stories.

Published in 2003, the book was inspired by her many years experience in social work and contact with the lives of Australians “as they approach the sometimes heart-rending challenges of living and relating”.

It was also designed as resource for teachers of social work, education and health, and has proved a valuable tool for human service professionals in general.

As a result, Dr Lehmann’s work in narrative has continued and, in a field where the nature of work and privacy laws often limit what can be told about real cases, she uses fictionalised stories to help teach about child, youth and family services.

In a new book, Critical Reflection in Health and Social Care, (by Sue White, Jan Fook and Fiona Gardner, Open University Press, 2006) she has written a chapter ‘Telling Stories - and the Pursuit of Critical Reflection’ on the use of narrative for teaching reflective practice.