The crossover of children from OOHC into youth justice: identifying opportunities for early intervention

Chief Investigator:

Dr Catia Malvaso

Research Area:

Improving child protection and its effects.

Funding Amount:

$95,850

Recipient:

The University of Adelaide

Overview:

The cross-over of children from out-of-home care into youth justice detention is striking. However, detention is a last resort reserved for the most serious offenders, with ~80% of the youth justice population supervised in the community. Characteristics of children and out-of-home care experiences that influence different pathways through the youth justice system remain unknown. This will be the first Australian study to investigate when, how and for whom different out-of-home care experiences lead to community- and detention-based youth justice supervision and will generate the evidence needed to inform and target interventions that can alter higher risk pathways.