Enhancing Outcomes for Young People in Out-of-Home Care who Self-Place

The challenge

Young people placed in out-of-home care due to child protection concerns are among Australia’s most vulnerable populations. Their vulnerability increases when they leave formal out-of-home care placements (e.g., foster, kinship or residential care), to stay in unapproved locations (e.g., staying with friends, family/kin, or strangers; couch-surfing; or sleeping on the streets) as these arrangements are often temporary, insecure and can expose young people to exploitation. The term ‘self-placing’ often signifies this phenomenon in Australia, although this term is not universally accepted. Currently there is no reliable data relating to the numbers and outcomes for this cohort, and little Australian evidence relating to the experiences of these young people who self-place.

The project

Researchers at The University of Queensland, in collaboration with a range of partner organisations, are undertaking a three-year study to address the knowledge gap about the experiences of young people in out-of-home care who leave formal placements to stay in unapproved locations. The project represents the first large scale, multi-stakeholder and mixed-methods study in Australia to build knowledge on the pathways and needs of young people in out-of-home care who self-place, together with formal service responses to self-placing across diverse geographical and practice contexts.

Project aims

Privilege the voices of young people to challenge system-driven and adult-centric assumptions about the phenomenon of self-placing and inform more responsive policies and practices.

Build knowledge on young people’s pathways into and out of self-placing arrangements to identify factors that can enhance or jeopardise their safety, connection and wellbeing when self-placing.

Build knowledge on best practice responses to self-placing and supports for young people who self-place, to achieve safety and wellbeing, across different geographical and practice contexts.

Work with key stakeholders to ensure knowledge transfer that helps to build the capacity of key child protection and related workforces to best support this cohort of young people.

Project design

This mixed-methods study will take place over three phases to answer the following research questions:

What are the current policies and practices for responding to young people who have left approved out-of-home care placements to stay elsewhere?
From the perspective of young people and key stakeholders, what are the needs of young people in out-of-home care who self-place and what are the factors that influence the extent to which they are met by current responses?
What are young people’s pathways in and out of self-placing arrangements and what are the factors that stabilize or disrupt these arrangements?
What do young people and key stakeholders propose as a way forward to provide more responsive policies and practices that promote the safety, connection, agency and wellbeing of young people in out-of-home care who self-place?

Phase 1 will focus on the establishment of project governance structures which will include a Project Management Group, First Nations Committee and Youth Advisory Group.

Phase 2 will involve an in-depth examination of pathways into and through self-placing arrangements, including young people’s views on factors that stablise or disrupt these arrangements.

Phase 3 will examine the way in which practitioners respond to self-place, exploring how organisational context, local practice cultures, geographical location and individual attitudes influence these responses.

Phase 4 will focus on knowledge translation, and generate a suite of resources for policymakers and practitioners in partnerships with our Youth Advisory Group, Project Management Group and First Nations Committee.

Data collection

Capturing the voices and experiences of young people and their informal networks will be achieved through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 100 young people aged 12-25 from across Queensland. We will aim for at least 40% of this sample to be First Nations young people. Additionally, snowball sampling will be used to recruit up to 25 young people who participating young people identify as part of their informal support network when self-placing.

Mapping the local practices and policies of formal stakeholders will involve a policy and document analysis from organisations that support young people who self-place, in addition to focus groups with practitioners and community leaders from across Queensland. Focus groups will explore practitioners perspectives on self-placing, their individual practices, their interactions with other stakeholders during these responses, and the factors that facilitate and inhibit practice responses.