Assistance after leaving out-of-home care
Children, young people and young adults who have had an experience of out-of-home care may be eligible for assistance from Children, Youth and Families (CYF).
What is out-of-home care?
Out-of-home care is an alternative living arrangement for children and young people who are unable to live with their birth families. The 3 main types of out-of-home care are kinship care, foster care and residential care.
When a child or young person transitions or leaves out-of-home care, this can mean returning to live with their birth family. For some young people, it can mean moving to independence and adulthood.
Children, young people and young adults (under 25 years old) who have left out-of-home care are sometimes called 'care-leavers'.
What assistance is available?
Care leavers can face unique challenges and sometimes require additional support with certain areas of their life. CYF can help care leavers with services to assist them after leaving out-of-home care. This is known as care leaver assistance.
Care leaver assistance may help care leavers with services to obtain:
- information about relevant resources and services
- accommodation
- education, training and employment
- legal advice
- counselling
- access to care information and records
- health care
- life skills support
- financial security
Who can ask for assistance?
CYF has a responsibility by law to provide care leaver assistance to care leavers who were in out-of-home care. This means, CYF:
- must provide assistance, where it considers appropriate, to care leavers who are younger than 21 years old.
- may provide assistance, where it considers appropriate, to care leavers who are over 21 but under 25 years old.
Want to know more?
For more information on assistance after leaving out-of-home care, please contact cyf@act.gov.au or 13 22 81.