CREATE Your Future Program launch

On 13 September 2010, Assistant Commissioner Barry Salmon attended the launch of the CREATE Your Future Program held at the Commission’s building at 53 Albert St, Brisbane.

The CREATE Foundation will roll out the Program – aimed at preparing young people in care who are approaching their transition to independence – in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, thanks to a three-year funding commitment from the Origin Foundation. The Program already operates successfully in the ACT and Tasmania.

CREATE CEO Jackie Reed shared the story of how the Program started and the vision it has to provide practical skills for young people leaving care. Two young people who have been involved in its development provided an overview of the Program and highlighted that the funding from the Origin Foundation will support nearly 1500 young people over three years to develop skills for independent living.

The Commission commends CREATE on the development of the CREATE Your Future Program and the positive difference it makes to the lives of young people in preparing for transition towards independence. This is a key stage in young people’s lives and the Commission continues to advocate strongly for effective and supportive Transition from Care Plans for all young people in out-of-home care aged 15 or more.

CREATE Your Future involves four workshops which are described on the Program website as follows:

1. The Great Race workshop is a team event to help young people find services & agencies that they may need to use once they leave care. 
2. Think Outside the Square challenges young people’s view of learning, and what they think they can or can’t do. The workshop checks out different learning styles, challenges the way young people look at things, teaches them to listen and challenges them they can achieve anything they set their minds to.
3. Pathways to Independence teaches young people practical skills like how to fill out a Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA) application, what help they can get with bond, how to deal with Centrelink, how to bargain shop, credit cards, mobile phones, how to buy their first car and heaps more. 
4. How to get a job and keep it teaches young people how to decide on what job to apply for and the steps they need to take to make it happen. They learn about goal setting, resume writing, how to address a Key Selection Criteria, how to dress for an interview and loads more.

In addition, CREATE recently launched What’s the Plan?, which is designed to raise young people’s awareness of the importance of developing a Leaving Care Plan and to help them be more prepared when they move out of care to independent living. 

More information on the Program can be found at the CREATE Your Future website: http://www.createyourfuture.org.au/ 

In other good news, CREATE in Queensland was recently resourced to provide Go Your Own Way’ Leaving Care Information Kits to all young people in care across the state who are turning 17.

Since the 1970s, there has been a social trend towards larger numbers of young adults staying longer in the parental home where they spent their childhood; young people in some ways “growing up” but not “moving out”. For young people leaving the care system, arrangements like these are not always available – and the road to adulthood can be a challenging and confusing one. Over the past few years, CREATE has been calling for the sector to invest in Leaving Care Kits to assist, empower and raise awareness about transitioning from care with young people exiting the system. At numerous meetings, consultations and focus groups, young people have told of how they need to be equipped with more tools and information to enable them to live independently and know how to get help if they need it.

Inspired by the development of such resources in other states like SA, ACT and TAS, the QLD CREATE team, including National Youth Advisory Council delegate Lee Stuart, have been tireless in their pursuit of such a resource for young people leaving care in the state. This dream became one step closer to reality in May when the Queensland Department of Communities (Child Safety Services) announced it had allocated funds to develop and distribute 1000 backpacks over three years to all young people in the state around the time of their 17th birthday.

Last Updated: October 13, 2010

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