Experiences in care that make a difference to long-term outcomes of Australian care leavers

People who have lived in child welfare institutions and other substitute care as children are known to have suffered significant abuse and disadvantage in their life course. There is international concern about the trauma and... [ view full abstract ]

People who have lived in child welfare institutions and other substitute care as children are known to have suffered significant abuse and disadvantage in their life course. There is international concern about the trauma and victimisation many of them experienced while in care and the significant and lifelong impacts of abuse in care. There has been significant attention internationally towards identifying the impact of historical institutional abuse of children and young people and efforts towards investigation and redress of such abuse. This presentation will provide an overview of the landscape of inquiries and major justice mechanisms used to address the problem of abuse in out-of-home care in the Australian context. The care leavers’ lived experience of the conditions of their care and their current outcomes will be profiled through a national research study conducted in Australia. Using a mixed methods approach this national research undertaken by the authors explores the range of experiences and outcomes for those who experienced residential and foster care, and transitioned out of care. The study comprises surveys, interviews and focus groups. The survey sample includes survey respondents and participants in interviews and focus group across Australia.
This paper will discuss the research findings on the relationship between experiences in care and adult careleavers’ current wellbeing with respect to physical health, mental health, financial wellbeing, and social and emotional wellbeing. The extent to which wellbeing outcomes differ by age at entry into care, types of care experienced, length of time in care, number of placements in care, contact maintained with family while in care, abuse and maltreatement experienced in care, and experiences of transitioning from care will be discussed. Given the fact that care systems underwent significant changes in past decades, the outcomes for younger and older care leavers will be differentiated. For example, results indicate that people who experienced instability and maltreatment in care had generally worse outcomes in various domains of current wellbeing outcomes. Compared to their counter parts, they experienced higher levels of financial hardship, housing difficulties and lower levels of psychological wellbeing, educational achievement and employment outcomes. These trends from survey data are complemented with findings from qualitative interviews and focus groups which identify critical points in care leavers’ lives, and events that have contributed to the development of both positive and negative life outcomes, and their perceptions of mechanisms of redress.
The implications of the findings for the development of responsive interventions to enhance current and future well-being of this population and for responding to children who are currently in care, and will transition out of care in the future, will be elaborated. Findings will enhance national and international understanding of the needs of those who are growing up and have grown up in care.