Page 1380 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 6 May 2015
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disengaging from family and other services, including education. Youth engagement services are likely to have a short to medium-term involvement with a young person and actively engage the young person and connect them to a support network or to medium to long-term services that will meet their needs. Youth engagement services providers work in partnership with families and other services providers, including case management services, to support the young person’s engagement and transition.
Youth engagement services are being delivered in regional networks and across the ACT by Northside Community Service and Anglicare in the inner north-Gungahlin network; Belconnen Community Service in the Belconnen network; Woden Community Service, Southside Community Services and Anglicare in the south-Weston network; the YWCA of Canberra in the Tuggeranong network; and the Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation across the ACT.
From 1 November 2013 an additional $5 million over four years for youth engagement services was made available to seven service providers. The additional funding has allowed for a greater focus on early intervention and wraparound services through additional youth worker positions across the community sector; the refurbishment of youth centre buildings, resources and facilities for young people; resources and equipment for a range of structured programs to develop living skills, nutrition, leadership and programs for young mothers; outreach to support difficult to engage young people; and equipment and material for after-hours activities such as breakfast clubs and band nights.
Carers are at the heart of support for children and young people in out of home care. Carers provide the love, support and stability that vulnerable children and young people need as they rebuild their lives. We are stepping up for foster carers, more so than ever before, with a more equitable system of support, better information and streamlined processes. Kinship carers are the biggest providers of support for children and young people in care, and we are stepping up for kinship carers. Of the 620 children and young people in out of home care in the ACT in February, 26 per cent are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. This is something I talked about in my adjournment debate last night, as you may remember, Madam Assistant Speaker.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle encourages kinship care placements within extended family. That means that over half of those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in Canberra are being looked after by their extended family. Kinship carers may often not have the full amount of information for supporting children that foster carers do, so we are making efforts to address that through enhanced support and training opportunities. A step up for our kids will mean better support for kinship carers so that they can do the best for their children.
Youth InterACT is the ACT government’s youth participation policy. It aims to encourage 12 to 25-year-olds from a range of backgrounds and experiences to have their say about youth issues in Canberra. Youth InterACT comprises the Youth Advisory Council and youth consultation, grants and scholarships, Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Awards, an annual youth conference and the Youth InterACT website.
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