Young people placed in out-of-home care (OHC) through Child Protection in Victoria are formally discharged by the expiration of their care order at the age of 18 years or younger. In contrast, young people in Australia generally live in their family home with parents or carers well into their twenties. Whilst there are a range of leaving care and post-care services funded for care leavers, these supports tend to be temporary and discretionary in contrast to the ongoing support young people receive whilst in care or, in some cases, from family and social networks post care. Numerous studies have documented the developmental challenges experienced by young people leaving state care, and the often poor outcomes faced by this group. The Stand By Me (SBM) programme was developed in Victoria to replicate the ongoing support provided in the UK to care leavers by Personal Advisers who remain available to assist young people until 21 years of age. Evaluation of the SBM programme has shown that ongoing, holistic support, including housing support, has assisted 12 young people through the SBM pilot to access stable housing, address multiple and complex issues, and form trusting relationships with SBM workers that contribute to positive outcomes.

Early intervention programs assist families to deal with emerging child behavioural difficulties that are likely to worsen over time. Identifying families suited to an early intervention program and then generating their interest in the program can be an uncertain and complex process. This paper describes the approach to family engagement in a school-based early intervention program for children with emerging conduct problems, called Got It!, and presents some of the findings from an external evaluation of the program conducted by the authors for New South Wales (NSW) Ministry of Health. Child behaviour screening questionnaires were completed by parents/carers and teachers, and qualitative data were gathered through interviews with parents/carers, teachers and health staff. The views of families who participated in the targeted intervention and those who were exposed only to the universal intervention were sought. Results indicate that offering the specialised group intervention in the school, in the context of universal interventions and screening, supported engagement with families of children with identified conduct problems. Many parents said they would not otherwise have sought assistance. A partnership approach between schools and specialist child and adolescent mental health services is a central feature of program delivery. Factors that contribute to an effective partnership are discussed.

This article reports on a qualitative research study that explored the perspectives and lived experiences of children in a range of New Zealand rural environments. Thirty-six children, aged between 6 and 11 years, were interviewed about living in the country and also contributed artwork and photographs. They came from four specific rural locations, ranging from ‘rural with high urban influence’ to ‘highly rural/remote’. Children expressed positive views about aspects of rural living, such as opportunities for being outdoors and participating in social relationships, confirming a positive discourse of the rural idyll. Their accounts highlighted children's agency under complex and sometimes challenging conditions. Children also, however, experienced some aspects of rural life as dull, dangerous or difficult. The complex and nuanced constructions of rural childhood uncovered in this study point to the critical importance of consulting with children in order to understand their experiences and best meet the needs of rural children and families.

This paper reports on the systematic search and review of the literature relating to the health and wellbeing of young children across the transition to school. It identified 56 papers (including empirical studies, reviews, commentaries, and reports) relevant to the research questions and completed an interpretive systematic review to ascertain the current state of the literature. The review employed the Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS) method to allow for a rigorous and systematic review of a disparate literature which stretches across several disciplines. The findings are presented in seven thematic categories: current conceptualisations of health and wellbeing, assessment and measurement, ‘school readiness’, service integration, transition actors, ‘at risk’ children, and child voice. These findings illustrate the ways in which concepts have been constructed, identified, and operationalised in early years research, practice, and policy. Moreover, it highlights that ‘what is known’ can be used to inform the review or implementation of services, practices, and partnerships that support child health and wellbeing during the transition to school.

Military deployment is typically considered a stressful period for families, generally lasting between 3 to 6 months for Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel. To date, insufficient research has been conducted concerning children and families who experience deployment within an Australian context. This study seeks to provide valuable insight into families with young children and explore their experiences of military deployment in an Australian context. Using a socio-constructivist approach, where truth is socially constructed both individually and culturally, ADF parents’ perceptions of their experiences are examined. Using Narrative Research, multiple methods of data collection are combined to gather various insights into families’ experiences. Data analysis was conducted using thematic verification identifying two main themes. Embracing an interpretivist epistemology, the researcher aims to create a shared knowledge around families’ understanding and experiences of deployment. Such knowledge will be helpful for effective support of parents, educators and professionals in their role with these children in the community.

This paper offers a picture of the life of young women in rural India, specifically in the state of Assam. It is drawn from a doctoral work that is in progress. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, yet nearly 69% of its population live in rural areas (Census of India, 2011). Numerous castes, creeds and religions co-exist in society with differing practices and opinions. Although conflicts of interest and incidents of violence occur from time to time, the ‘multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-dimensional’ Indian society still manages to hold itself together against all odds. Assam is a state with a predominantly rural makeup. The doctoral work drawn from for the purposes of this paper was conducted using a sample of 60 adolescent girls in school settings in Assam. The macro-philosophy of the research was to understand the impact of cash transfer in the form of scholarships on their overall wellbeing. The demographic profile of the state introduces the reader to the construct of the Assamese society. The three life sketches of young women narrated exemplify their dreams for a good life amidst challenges, both substantial and emotional. They show immense potential for a fulfilled life. There is need for support and guidance at different levels to enhance their capabilities. Importance of affective scaffolding at a personal level and affirmative action at governmental level is essential.

This paper examines how the education of children as literate subjects in schools and community settings is implicated in the politics of securing civil society. Foucault's concept of biopolitics is used to consider how young people are produced as securitised subjects. The emergence of the concept of human security as a technology for measuring human development is problematised using Bacchi's methodology. The analysis uses the Northern Territory intervention to question representations of young people as subjects of danger and as potentially dangerous subjects. This paper argues that the use of literacy by the apparatus of state and non-state governmentalities functions as a technology of risk mitigation and biopolitical government: a way of contingently positioning the freedoms of children as subjects to forms of rule. The paper concludes by suggesting that literacy has been deployed as a techne of an authoritarian form of liberalism in which the power to delimit entangles children in biopolitical strategies and sovereign intervention.

Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OHC) are a vulnerable group. One particular manifestation of disadvantage is poor mental health outcomes which may reflect both the traumatic effects of childhood abuse, and a lack of support on leaving care. This article presents the findings of a small qualitative study undertaken in Victoria which explored the views of OHC and mental health service providers regarding the mental health support needs of care leavers. The findings are consistent with existing research results internationally in highlighting a number of key factors that influence mental health outcomes including the impact of pre-care, in-care and transition from care experiences.

Between 1947 and 1953, Australia received over 170,000 Displaced People from Europe including widows and unmarried mothers. These refugees were expected to conform to the policies and expectations of the State, in particular the adherence to a 2-year work contract. This was an impossibility for many mothers who could not find work or accommodation outside of the government supplied migrant accommodation centres, and who, as a consequence, resorted to placing their children, either temporarily or permanently, in institutions or for adoption. Through an examination of archival documents, this paper examines the policies that resulted in migrant child placement and adoption and considers the role played by Department of Immigration social workers. It asks why, when migrant children were considered amongst the most desirable of new arrivals, were many fated to become orphans?

Leaving statutory out-of-home care (OOHC) is a challenging time for many young people; however, certain groups have greater difficulty transitioning to independence. This includes young people with multiple and complex needs, such as those suffering from mental health problems and disabilities, as well as young people with borderline conditions or who disengage from services. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the service issues pertaining to these vulnerable groups in South Australia, as well as to identify ways that policy and practice can be enhanced to better facilitate service engagement. Twenty-nine individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with people working in organisations who have knowledge of, or contact with, young people leaving care (N = 66). Thematic analysis was used to organise responses according to two overarching themes: (1) Issues with current leaving care services and preparation, and (2) Enhancing policy and practice. The principal challenges related to difficulties in matching the structure of formal services to a population with highly unstructured living arrangements, a history of problematic engagement with the care system, and difficulties arising due to service ineligibility issues. Potential improvements to the current system and program delivery are discussed.

Wings: Social and emotional wellbeing in the early years is a professional development programme designed to assist educators in early years services to improve outcomes for children. It uses a strengths-based approach and supports educators to understand the impact of their interactions with children and to use communication strategies, such as descriptive feedback, to develop children's capacities. These strategies are used to help children recognise their strengths and build their ability to self-regulate and manage their own social and emotional wellbeing. This paper reports on the outcomes of the Wings programme introduced into early childhood services in rural and remote south-west Queensland, Australia, through the Community Wellbeing Project run by the Pathways to Resilience Trust in partnership with Anglicare Southern Queensland. Preliminary findings indicate the Wings programme successfully enhanced the confidence and knowledge of early years educators engaged in promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing.

People use reflection and reflective practice for many different reasons, including for self-care and to make sense of their experiences. In this study, social workers spoke about how they learned to be reflective, with many participants describing activities in their childhood that developed their reflective capacity. The aim of this article is to apply these ideas and examine the factors that enhance reflective capacity in children and young people. This research was part of a PhD study that involved interviews with 35 social workers in USA, Canada, UK and Australia. This exploratory study found that activities like story reading and asking children to reflect on their behaviour are early steps in the process of becoming reflective, but this needs to be followed up with conversations that deconstruct assumptions to make sense of experiences and explore multiple perspectives. This research is important for health and human service workers and others who want to develop reflective capacity in children and young people, particularly for children subject to disadvantage who need to overcome trauma and adversities.

This paper explores the complexities of how to get our families who are often in a chaotic state of surviving (emotionally, psychologically, and physiologically) to the point where they can process psychoeducation, develop parenting skills, and implement strategies to care for children in enduring ways and to feel successful in their everyday lives. This exploration led us to ponder two questions:

1. 1. What are “good” working relationships?

2. 2. How do these relationships benefit the families we work with?

Over the last 25 years (1990–2015), the number of adoptions of children (and young persons) in Australia declined from 1,142 to 292 (25.5 %). Of the 292 adoptions that took place in 2014–15, 83 (28%) were inter country adoptions, with the remaining 209 (72 %) adoptions of Australian children. Very few of the adoptions of Australian children were in New South Wales. In amendments in 2014 to the New South Wales Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and the Adoptions Act 2000, a new emphasis on ‘open’ adoption was introduced. The focus of these amendments is on adoption of children who are in foster care where the New South Wales Children's Court has ruled that there is no realistic possibility of restoration of the child to parental care. This article is about the implementation of this new legislative emphasis on adoption. It does not examine the benefit or otherwise of adoption for children who cannot be safely restored to parental care as this issue has been extensively canvassed elsewhere. This article also highlights the US and English experience of adoption from care in order to place the New South Wales development in perspective. The article concludes with discussion of the issues adoption raises for the parents of a child who is being considered for adoption from care.

The purpose of this paper is to familiarise readers with a new social innovations programme at the University of Melbourne. MABL is an abbreviation for Mobilising change Alliance for Better Lives. The paper outlines the rationale for establishing MABL and describes the processes and principles it uses to generate, design, test and scale novel solutions to improve the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children and adolescents. Information on how to join the change Alliance and/or invest in solving a better lives challenge is provided.

At various times in my career, I have focussed on mental health services for children and their basis in human rights principles. This year I returned to examining best practices and how they could be implemented in a particular place – the State of Illinois, in the United States, where I reside. I found myself reflecting on improvements in services over the last 40 years, but even more, on the significant challenges and gaps in our knowledge that remain. I want to focus this commentary on two topics I found most salient: Contradictions between principles and practice; and need for more research on how to provide services in the most restrictive settings – inpatient and residential.