Young people’s journey to independence: Towards a better future for young people leaving state care in Victoria

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.