MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Community Services, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Women and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (11.01): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to be tabling the Children and Young People’s (Transition Out-of-Home Care) Amendment Bill 2011. The bill seeks to provide young people in out-of-home care who are transitioning to adulthood with supports and care that many young people in the ACT community receive from their family. Very early in my time as Minister for Community Services I identified support for young people transitioning from out-of-home care as a priority for action. And as I have said, not all young people become instantly wise and mature at 18 and do require support from their family beyond this age. Young people in out-of-home care also require greater support than young people who are not in the care of the territory parent during this life transition.
In October of last year the ACT government released the discussion paper entitled “Maximising Potential: Improving life transitions for young people in care” which provided transitions for building on our current arrangement for services for young people transitioning from care to adult life. Following this process, in March of this year I reported to the Assembly that support for young people may be needed up to the age of 25.
And in the 2011-12 budget the government appropriated $2.07 million over four years for the purpose. This investment will provide new support and assistance service for young people transitioning from out-of-home care up to the age of 25 years which will commence this year. And the operations will be both within the Community Service Directorate but also within the community sector as well.
In August I announced that the ACT government would introduce amendments to the Children and Young People Act 2008 to include provision of support for assistance for young people transitioning from out-of-home care up to the age of 25 to ensure that this budget measure was reflected in legislative framework, which is the bill I present today.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank all the young people, community service providers, youth organisations, carers and government agencies for participating and providing feedback to the office.
While young people have experienced out-of-home care remain with their carers well beyond the age of 18, the research tells us that some who transition achieve poorer life outcomes and that they are some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged social groups. The government recognises young people leaving care need support in transitioning from out-of-home care, support to overcome barriers and support to achieve positive life outcomes in areas such as health, housing, education, employment, relationships and parenting.
This is why the government has provided and will continue to provide for transition from out-of-home care program, including amendments to the Children and Young People Act to enshrine the provisions of support and assistance for young people transitioning from out-of-home care. This approach is premised on evidence of continuum of changing needs of young people as they transition towards adulthood. The proposed legislation recognises the need for ongoing yet often intermittent assistance as young people grow older in order to develop the necessary social skills and networks to support their move to adulthood.
The government has already demonstrated a commitment to improving outcomes for
In March I informed the Assembly of the progress being made by the government to improve planning and supports for young people transitioning from out-of-home care, which included the new service model. The amendment bill I am tabling today incorporates the principles of this new service and has four key elements.
The first key element of the bill is transition planning. As outlined in the bill, the object of transition planning is to promote and strengthen and foster the wellbeing of young people transitioning from out-of-home care. This is already being implemented through policies and practice. In 2010-11, 28 young people transitioned from out‑of‑home care, 21 having leaving care plans and one young person choosing not to have a plan because she was in a stable and long-term placement.
To improve outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care, supports need to be tailored to the individual needs of young people, allow for gradual and flexible transition to care and be more specialised support after the young people is no longer in care.
A transition plan may include proposals such as accommodation, education and training, financial security, social support, life skills support and health. For a young person to successfully transition to adulthood, it is vital that their education, employment, housing and social supports are in place.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the proposed amendments clearly outline the process the Director-General will follow in preparing and reviewing a transition plan. Importantly, the Director-General must develop a plan in consultation with the young person. Active engagement and participation by the young person will promote ownership of the plan. Transitioning from out-of-home care includes many different options and will change as the young person’s circumstances change. And transition plans will be reviewed up until year of 18 and to ensure that new needs or goals are identified.
To ensure the Children and Young People’s Act is consistent with best practice and other jurisdictions and national frameworks, provisions in the act regarding “leaving care” has been replaced with the concept of “transition from care”. These provisions have been inserted in a new part titled “Transition to adulthood” and reflect the transition or path that all young people take as they progress through life.
The second key element of the proposed amendments is assistance for young people after leaving out-of-home care up to the age of 25 years. The supports included in the bill will be voluntary and determined by the young person and their needs. The imposition of a service provision after they have left care must be with their consent and agreement. These provisions do not mean that parental responsibility of the ACT government has been extended regarding young people who are in out-of-home care once they reach adulthood.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the focus of this support will be advice, referral and assistance to access Commonwealth and ACT services, accessing their personal records when required and in a manner that assists their needs, and accessing counselling as required. The bill provisions are an affirmative action enabling young adults who were in out-of-home care access to the same rights and responsibilities of all young adults in the ACT.
The third key element of the proposed amendments is a level of financial assistance. The government recognises that most parents provide some financial support to their children to help them moving into adulthood. This could be contribution towards education and training cost, accommodation bonds and household furnishings when moving to independent living or to assist when seeking employment.
The ACT Labor government wants to provide similar supports to young people who were previously in out-of-home care. And the bill provides the Director-General may provide some level of financial assistance to a young person or young adult who has been in out-of-home care. To ensure that the money is used appropriately, there will be safeguards in the bill whereby the Director-General will need to be satisfied that the assistance is necessary and level appropriate.
The fourth key element of the proposed amendments is support and assistance for young people to access information and records when they were in care. Research tells us that young people knowing about their history in out-of-home care is crucial to their chances of developing a sense of self and their capacity to realise their abilities throughout life.
Persons seeking access to their records and information do so at times in their lives when they have an emotional need for the information such as why they were placed in out of home care. Now this information may not be easily obtainable and multiple government agencies might hold information such as Community Services, Health, Justice and Community Safety or Education Directorates. Currently, people may only formally access their records through a Freedom of Information application. This process does not take into account the emotional and personal needs of the young person and may not be an appropriate method to receiving this information. The proposed amendments make accessing information and records held during the young person’s out of home care part of the support and assistance. This will be done in a manner that assists with the young person’s well-being and healing.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the Select Committee Estimates 2011, Appropriation Bill, recommendation 182 which was around transition planning and is part of the support and assistance for young people transitioning from out of home care as outlined in this bill. Madam Deputy Speaker this government wants to see better outcomes for young people transitioning from care. This is why this Labor government has committed over $2 million over four years to extend support services to young people transitioning from care beyond the statutory age of 18 to the age of 25. As I have said earlier, this funding will establish an outreach service that will provide transition support to young people, including developing and implementing transition plans, and ensuring the young person’s needs have been identified and appropriate supports are in place.
The bill forms part of a strategy which will formalise these supports and provide a legislative basis to assist young people transitioning from out of home care. The bill is very clear in requiring transition planning to commence for all young. The bill outlines the review of transition planning must be done in consultation with the young person and at least once each year until the person reaches 18. And in policy, and with the young adult’s agreement, the reviews may occur up to the age of 25 years.
The Office for Children, Youth and Family Support has implemented a system to ensure all young people transitioning from out of home care will have a transition place prior to their care orders expiring. The outreach service will administer this system and engage and work with young people and their supporting networks to develop and implement the plan. Further, Madam Deputy Speaker, a unit in the office is responsible for arranging and conducting, at a minimum, one leaving care case conference for each young person prior to their care order expiring. And the conference includes participation from the young person, relevant service providers, carers and family members and involves discussing matters identified in the young person’s transition plan.
Madame Deputy Speaker, tabling this bill signifies the important initiative by the ACT Labor government to support some of the most vulnerable groups of our young people in the ACT. The young people transitioning from care should be able to share the hopes, dreams and a good life as we as a community want for all of our young people. This bill and the corresponding budget initiative presents a significant step towards that goal.
