October 2025: Early parenthood and out-of-home care: Insights to strengthen practice and policy

Webinar

Missed the live webinar? A captioned recording is now available to view

Details

Young people who become parents while transitioning from out-of-home care can benefit from strong social support networks, placement stability, and access to comprehensive services tailored to their individual needs.

In this FACSIAR Lunch and Learn webinar, Dr Amy Gill from the University of Sydney presented findings from her PhD research, which explored the placement, service, and social support needs of care-experienced young parents in New South Wales. Her presentation described pathways from out-of-home care into parenthood using population-level data and provided insights from stakeholders to highlight the importance of creating policies which:

are designed to better meet the needs of care-experienced young parents and their children,
actively involve young parents in decision-making; and
provide comprehensive planning for a supported transition from out-of-home care.

Following Dr Gill’s presentation, a panel of experts – including DCJ policy staff, NSW Health and consultants from UC Change shared their perspectives on the research as well as their personal experiences and discussed practical ways to better support young parents in care.

The webinar was chaired by Dr Jessica Stewart, Executive Director, FACSIAR, Department of Communities and Justice.

Presentations

Early parenthood and out-of-home care (OOHC): Insights to strengthen practice and policy

Dr Amy Gill - Sydney School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Sydney

Download Amy Gill's Presentation slides (PDF, 911.3 KB)

Leaving and Aftercare Care leavers as young parents

Melissa Pearce - Manager, Leaving and Aftercare Programs, OOHC Programs, Child and Family, DCJ

Download Melissa Pearce's Presentation slides (PDF, 941.7 KB)

(For permission to use or reproduce content from these slides, please contact the author)

Additional resources

Academic publications from Dr Amy Gill

Gill, A., & Luu, B. (2025). A Population-Based Analysis of Birth Rates and Placement Patterns Among Care-Experienced Young Women in New South Wales, Australia. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-024-00995-8
Gill, A., Page, S. M., & Hairston, M. (2023). Communities of Support for Care-Experienced Mothers. British Journal of Social Work, 53(3), 1175-1783. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad032
Gill, A. (2022). Reflexivity and Lived Experience of Out-of-Home Care: Positionality as an Early Parenthood Researcher. Affilia, 37(4), 664-683. https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099211061210
Gill, A., Grace, R., Waniganayake, M., & Hadley, F. (2020). Practitioner and foster carer perceptions of the support needs of young parents in and exiting out-of-home care: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 108, 104512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104512