AnglicareSA program offers housing to youths leaving state care

Kids in state care such as Felicity are cut off once they turn 18, with eviction and homelessness in their future. But that doesn’t have to happen.

Felicity doesn’t like birthdays. And she has good reason.

The 19-year-old was removed from her mother’s care a week before her eighth birthday and placed with a foster family.

After five years she was uprooted again – a week before she turned 13.

For the next three years Felicity bounced around the system and when her 16th birthday came around, she found herself in a homeless shelter for teens.

After finally landing in a small unit, her 18th birthday loomed as another eviction date.

On that milestone birthday government support ends for many young people in state care and they find themselves facing the prospect of financial stress and homelessness.

“I don’t like birthdays,” Felicity told The Advertiser.

Felicity feared she would end up in a homeless shelter when she turned 18, but was saved from the streets by a new AnglicareSA housing service. Picture Matt Turner.

“A lot of people my age probably would have massive parties for their 18th, go clubbing with their friends, but I think being a kid in care you don’t want your birthday because birthdays are a reminder of what you might not have that other kids have.

“My sisters and I just grew up never having birthday parties ... because our mum’s house wasn’t the best place for kids. Because of her disabilities it meant that she neglected us. She was kind of a hoarder. She never kept the house clean, we were eating mouldy food. I remember our heads being covered in head lice.

“So to this day, every year, every birthday, I just try to treat it as any other day because it’s not really a fun time like it is for other kids out of care.”

In many cases young people can continue to live with foster parents after they turn 18, but not all carers are willing, or can afford to do so.

Research by both the CREATE Foundation and the University of Adelaide has found high rates of homelessness and mental health concerns among young adults leaving the child protection system.

In 2019 payments were extended to carers who continue to support a young person full-time until the age of 21.

But that did not apply to youths living in state-run homes, nor cases where foster placements broke down and relatives could not step in.

Felicity was living in state-funded housing when she turned 18 and was told she would need to move on.

She couldn’t stay with family nor afford a rental property and feared she would end up in a homeless shelter – until she was offered a place in a new AnglicareSA program.

The Post Care Pathways program provides subsidised housing in one-bedroom apartments in Adelaide’s inner southwest and connects residents with support workers.

It launched in January 2021 and has so far helped 23 young people aged 18 to 25.

There are at least another 13 youths who have been on a waiting list for about six months.

Felicity stayed for eight months and is now living in a rental property.

“I finally was able to know that I wasn’t about to end up on the street,” she said.

“I had somewhere to go and I was able to have my pet cat, Hazel ... my only family really.

“I don’t talk to any of my family now, I didn’t really have anyone else.

“I’m not someone who really likes getting help because I feel like I have to do everything on my own to prove, not only to myself but to other people, that I can do it alone.

“But I didn’t want to be in a homeless shelter, obviously. No one does.”

A University of Adelaide survey of 121 young people who left state care in 2018-19 found that one in four needed support from homelessness services in the following two years, and

almost 12 per cent were hospitalised for a mental health issue.

CREATE Foundation data released last year found almost a third of care leavers surveyed nationally found themselves homeless at some point within the first year.

The SA Government funds the Foundation’s CREATE Your Future program to teach youths in state-run homes the skills they need to move out on their own.

Earlier this year the government launched the Next Steps pilot program to support 20 young adults with complex needs who are leaving state housing.

Dame Roma Mitchell Grants are also available to support independent living, such as buying furniture or paying for driving lessons. More than $182,000 was given to 247 young people in 2021-22.

“We know that young people transitioning to adulthood need extra support,” Child Protection Department deputy chief executive officer Fiona Ward said.

“(The department) actively pursues every opportunity to help children and young people heal and reach their full potential”.

AnglicareSA executive general manager of community services Nancy Penna said many 18-year-olds “can return home to mum and dad for financial assistance” if they find themselves in rental stress but “young people leaving care do not have that option”.

“Without the same family support networks, our young care leavers are more vulnerable to ending up in crisis, including homelessness, as they enter adulthood alone,” she said.

Ms Penna said AnglicareSA was seeking both government and private support to expand its program.

Originally published as AnglicareSA program offers housing to youths leaving state care