This report focuses on a cohort of children and young people in OOHC who were in residential care at the time of the study. It focuses on the demographic characteristics, socio-emotional wellbeing, social competence, verbal ability, non-verbal reasoning and the perspectives of the children and young people in residential care.

The child protection and out-of-home care system understandably focuses on preventing harm and ensuring safety. A reductive focus on these aims has had profound unintended consequences. This report articulates concrete steps to advance a course change on child protection in NSW. It outlines 11 key opportunities to focus the system on the holistic needs of...

This report examines interactions of young people aged 10 to 13 years with the NSW criminal justice system in 2023. The study finds that the number of young people offending is small and these children have overwhelmingly experienced significant childhood trauma and disadvantage prior to their contact with the justice system.

Children who experience out-of-home care often have low academic achievement which subsequently negatively affects their adult life outcomes, yet a smaller proportion succeed in spite of adversity. This study examined the reading trajectories of children from the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study in New South Wales, Australia.

This report summarises the findings from a rapid evidence scan that explored the evidence base for supported playgroup models. The evidence base for supported playgroup models is emerging. The few quantitative evaluations available provide some evidence that supported playgroups can improve child outcomes, including language, cognition, behaviour, socialisation, transition to school; and parent outcomes, including...