This mixed-methods study explored how transition planning is implemented in Victoria, Australia, from the perspectives of young people, residential out-of-home care staff and cross-sector staff. Data were collected from 46 interviews, 105 surveys and 95 transition plan documents. The study explored who participates in transition planning, how it is conceptualised and implemented in practice and differences across demographic contexts. Findings revealed that young people receive support from multiple organisations, with Child Protection (the government agency responsible for child welfare) and the residential care provider consistently involved. However, interpretations of who holds primary responsibility varied across the workforce, and young people’s participation typically occurred indirectly through informal conversations rather than through formal goal-setting processes. Transition planning was conceptualised as a task-oriented process focused on securing housing, meeting basic needs and developing life skills, with significant variation in how it was understood across demographic contexts. Implementation was shaped by system-driven transition plan documentation, supplemented with multiple documents and bespoke tools to address young people’s diverse needs. Young people typically exited residential care between the ages of 16 and 17 years, with limited long-term pathways out of care. Their readiness to leave residential care was determined by the Child Protection agency, which holds legal guardianship of young people in residential care to age 18. The findings highlight the need for policy and practice improvements to: (1) strengthen role clarity; (2) develop a shared understanding of core transition planning components; and (3) align transition planning processes with young people’s developmental readiness. Further research is needed to explore how transition planning can be enhanced to better meet young people’s diverse needs.

This study employs a phenomenological approach to explore the dynamics of trust within the Mockingbird Family, a relatively new model of foster and kinship care introduced in Australia. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with children (n = 21) and members of their care networks (n = 33) involved in the pilot implementation of the model. Trust is examined as a multidimensional concept that spans interpersonal, organisational and societal contexts. Findings show that trust is co-produced through everyday interactions between children and carers, strengthened through collaboration among carers, agency staff and child protection workers, and reinforced by organisational coherence and political support. Drawing on the lived experiences of children, carers and professionals, the study offers insight into how trust can be intentionally built and sustained within collective care environments. The Mockingbird Family model highlights trust as an emergent process shaped through mutual engagement, peer support and structural responsiveness, rather than as a fixed attribute or predefined outcome. These insights contribute to reimagining foster care as a relationship-centred, interconnected system.

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Abstract The World Health Organization categorised the Corona virus as a public health emergency of international concern. As a result of this declaration, a raft of procedures to stem the spread of the virus to safeguard the health and safety of its citizens was enacted by the Australian Government. The promotion of social isolation and distancing were among these measures. The governmental social distancing measures put in place in Australia resulted in a curtailing of face-to-face work and moving to online service delivery for many agencies who provide counselling for children/young people who have experienced maltreatment. This article presents the findings of a review of the literature on the pertinent ethical issues in relation to online counselling. The results of the review highlighted common ethical issues discussed across the literature, with a major gap in the literature focusing on issues for children and young people and a continued privileging of the adult voice over children and young people’s needs.

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Abstract This paper is a narrative review examining the high prevalence of care leaver early parenting in the context of (i) key transitions from care studies taken from the last few decades, (ii) a structured review using Scopus of studies from 2015–2020 focussed specifically on young people transitioning from care and early parenting and (iii) Boss’s (2010) Ambiguous Loss theory. Young care leavers’ challenges, in general, put them at higher risk of protective interventions with their children and may contribute to the growing numbers of children being placed in increasingly over-stretched out-of-home care systems. Questions of surveillance bias for service-connected young people are examined in light of recent large-scale studies using administrative data sets. Serious oversights in responding to young people’s experiences of trauma and exploitation are identified. The relevance of sexual health programs for young people actively seeking pregnancies is discussed with emerging evidence that disengagement from schooling may have more of a role in explaining early pregnancy and parenting than previously thought. The authors test the relevance of Ambiguous Loss theory in understanding how removal from families of origin and placement experiences may affect young people and lead to ‘wanted’ pregnancies.

Abstract This article presents a brief scoping review of the literature on the educational outcomes of care experienced children and young people in Australia published since 2010. The review also examines key educational issues and the impact of being in care on the educational experience of children and young people. Twenty-five papers were selected for review, key information extracted and recurrent themes noted. Themes include stigma and low expectations, school disruption and absenteeism, issues within the care and education systems and the importance of good relationships with supportive adults. The review found that young people in care often experience much worse educational outcomes than their peers. Conclusions and recommendations include reforming the care and education systems, focussing workers on building strong supportive relationships with young people, helping them to build resilience and prioritising education. Further targeted research is also recommended.

Abstract There are multiple structural and practical barriers to Aboriginal young people with cognitive disability in remote areas receiving the support and services they need. Multidisciplinary mixed-methods research over the past decade has provided evidence of the ways that many such young people end up with complex support needs and being ‘managed’ by police and justice agencies in the absence of appropriate early intervention, transition support and community-based options. This article presents and synthesises knowledge generated by this body of work and contextualises it within the experiences and trajectory of a young Aboriginal woman with cognitive disability and complex support needs from a remote town. This case study is drawn from a New South Wales linked administrative dataset containing data from health, housing, disability, human services, police, legal, court and justice agencies on a cohort of people who have been incarcerated. The article draws out key principles and strategies to suggest what a community-led, holistic service response could have looked like for Casey.