NSW will soon be the only jurisdiction in Australia where automatic state support for children in foster,kinship or residential care ceases at 18,after Queensland announced in June it would extend state care to 21 from next July.
Alex,19,was formerly in foster care. He believes NSW should extend care for children until they reach 21.Janie Barrett
NSW Minister for Families and Communities Natasha Maclaren-Jones said in budget estimates on August 30 that she was “actively reviewing it”.
In response to questions fromThe Sun-Herald,Maclaren-Jones did not elaborate on what the review entailed,but said the NSW government continued to “assess evidence and gather information from consultation and feedback to inform the future directions for leaving care and aftercare”.
She said the current approach involved “tailored responses and targeted support services that meet the individual needs of young people in care”.
Meanwhile,youth advocacy organisations say support is confusing,hard to access and often insufficient.
Jacqui Reed,the chief executive of CREATE Foundation – the national peak body for young people with an out-of-home care experience – said she had written multiple letters and held many meetings with the minister,other politicians and the Department of Communities and Justice advocating for extended care,but was making little progress.
“Every other jurisdiction has,in some shape or form,extended care to 21 to offer young people the opportunity to remain with their current carers but NSW is the one stalwart recalcitrant state,” Reed said.
“My argument to all the ministers was ‘would you expect your 18-year-old to go out into the Sydney housing market and find affordable housing?’.”
About 1200 young people age-out of the NSW care system every year when they turn 18. A department spokesperson said they could apply to remain with their carers to complete the higher school certificate,and could be eligible for ongoing financial support up to age 25 based on their leaving care plan.
The spokesperson said in the 2021-2022 financial year the department provided more than $10 million in direct financial assistance to 2000 care leavers aged 18 years and over.
However,Reed said it was difficult for foster children to understand their entitlements,and two out of five care leavers did not have an active case-worker at age 18.
Jason Juretic,the chief executive of youth service Stepping Stone House,said the number of inquiries from young people was triple what it was before the pandemic. Based on trends on the ground,he expected the 2021 census to show a 20 per cent rise in youth homelessness since 2016. The census homelessness figures will be released next year.
“We need to be allocating a larger percentage of social housing to young people who come out of care or to young people under 25 years old,who are at risk of homelessness as well,” he said.
Juretic is chair of the Home Stretch campaign,which advocates to extend care for state wards to 21. He said the outcomes were poor for young people leaving care at 18:within a year,60 per cent were homeless,pregnant,in jail,or admitted to a mental health hospital.
International evidence suggested extending care to 21 halved that risk,meaning about 360 NSW young people a year would avoid that fate.
Juretic said extended care would not force young people to remain in unhappy foster care situations if the government allowed them to put the same funding towards independent living.
Alex,19,who requested his last name be withheld,was formerly in foster care and is now in supported independent living on the northern beaches and studying music business while working part-time.
Alex said he had to request his leaving care plan repeatedly,and it was then written without his input. He felt it was rushed and missing important elements.
Alex said he only found his place in the group home because he had good foster carers who helped him research and apply for it. Even then it took 10 weeks for the department to put in the application.
He was disappointed that NSW was the last state to offer extended care.
“NSW should have been the first one,” he said. “We’re the state with the most out-of-home care children,and we should have been leading by example.”