Young people in NSW recently facilitated a roundtable with Minister Kate Washington to discuss their experiences of residential care and the solutions they wanted to see implemented to create real change for young people living in residential care right now.
“... having upwards of 30 case managers in a year creates such an instability within us… we want to trust people but how can we do this when they leave?”
CREATE would like to thank all of the young people involved in the months of preparation that went into creating this powerful event. We also wanted to thank Minister Washington for taking the time to deeply engage with our young people and listen to their solutions for change!
Young people presented 3 key solutions:
Introduce a mentor support role for young people living in residential care,
Establish a visitor sign-in process that is shared with and approved by young people living in the residential care home, and
Implement a stronger complaints system.
Find out more about their solutions in our Roundtable Report.
On meeting with the young people and hearing what they had to say, Minister Washington said:
“Every time I meet with a young person, I come out of it thinking it is one of the most powerful conversations and they fuel my ambitions for change. That is why I have been looking forward to today – the conversations I have with young people I have been relaying them in Parliament to make people aware of the change needed.
Members of the community and Parliament need to understand the problem to understand change. Your descriptions help me understand the problems and the solutions. I am so grateful for the work that has already happened and the great effort and thought to understand the problems and go through solutions to inform reform to make things better for the kids coming into the system. I am so grateful to have your input because it makes change. I am amazed by the bravery and courage you all have to speak out.”
What's next
Another incredible outcome arising from the Roundtable was that the Minister has agreed to the young people’s request for a visit to Parliament to understand how government decisions are made and how to influence decision-makers.
As a result, we are now planning a Parliament visit for CREATE young people and staff in October!
Watch this space for more updates and to find out how to get involved in our next NSW Roundtable (November 2024). You can reach out to our NSW team to express your interest today: nsw@create.org.au
