The first wave of findings from the Victorian government’s Beyond 18: The Longitudinal Study on Leaving Care report involving surveys of 202 young people in out-of-home care aged 16–19 years old suggest that although successful transitions from out-of-home care are found in the literature to involve comprehensive transition planning, in Victoria legislative and practice guidelines were often not followed and that young people were frequently not involved in formal, structured planning about their future. For most carers and caseworkers, formal transition planning was relatively low in priority compared to more urgent needs such as housing. Over a third of young people in the study indicated that they had not been able to access all the services they needed when in care, with many indicating that they lacked help with mental health issues. Caseworkers similarly identified mental health services as difficult to access and lacking in capacity, especially for high needs clients. Future research reports from the study will detail young people’s post-care outcomes and the factors influencing their outcomes.
