Alex, one of our former foster care clients, dropped in last week and was keen to chat about his experiences with Marist180 Foster Care. So we made a little video on an iPhone (apologies for the poor sound quality, hope the subtitles help!). We thought his reflections on what makes a good (or bad) foster experience are worth sharing. Thanks Alex.
If you have the capacity to give a young person the attention and communication they need, please consider becoming a foster carer. Go here for more information today.
Youth unemployment in Western Sydney contributing more mental health problems
Youth unemployment, mental health problems and homeless are increasingly becoming issues of concern within our society.
Our Casework and Clinical Services Practice Leader and acting Out of Home Care Executive Manager, Ariana Kenny, shares her insights on these issues in a conversation with the Blacktown Advocate.
Some of key takeaways Ariana shared were:
“Economic stresses are strongly linked with the development of mental health issues, 
The Australian Centre for Child Protection’s theory of change and evidence matching process is an initial, rapid and cost-effective step to give funders, managers and practitioners the confidence that their program’s target group, activities and outcomes are in alignment and matched to evidence. Governments are increasingly requiring this of funded programs.
The transition from adolescence to adulthood —emerging adulthood— is now recognised as a significant stage in the life cycle in developmental, emotional and social terms. Young people leaving out-of-home care (OOHC) face this transition to adulthood without family support and with significant extra barriers such as poor mental health,