Description
Title: The complex developmental needs of care leavers involved in the Youth Justice system in Victoria, Australia. Authors: Philip Mendes (Monash University), Pamela Snow (La Trobe University), Susan Baidawi (Monash University) Aims This study aimed to understand the needs, experiences and good practice with young people leaving state out-of-home care (OHC) who are also involved with the youth justice system. Many such young people have disabilities of various forms, though these are not always formally diagnosed. Methods Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with 77 key stakeholders in the child welfare and youth justice fields. Additionally, 15 in-depth interviews were held with care leavers aged 18-26 years who had experienced involvement with the Victorian Youth Justice system. Results Findings identified difficulties managing challenging behaviours as a driver for entry into out-of-home care. Ongoing difficulty responding to these needs in OHC contributes to the over-representation of this group in the Youth Justice system. Conclusions Many aspects of offending behaviour among young people in OHC can be usefully conceptualised as trauma-related, with other developmental deficits as compounding factors. Trauma-informed approaches for preventing and addressing the over-representation of young people in and leaving care in the youth justice system are recommended.| Period | 15 Aug 2016 |
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| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 15th |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia, VictoriaShow on map |
Keywords
- Leaving care
- Youth justice
- disability
- out-of-home care