Introducing the Out-of-Home Care Toolbox

The OoHC Toolbox is designed for carers of young people (aged 12 - 18) who are in care.

It is presented as an adjunct to any training or information you may receive from your supporting agency. If you happen to experience a contradiction between the content of this Toolbox and what you have been advised by your agency, we always advise going with your agency as they know you and the young person involved.

This project was developed with the financial support of the Sidney Myer Fund to whom we are very grateful.

The Toolbox is based on evidence-informed knowledge, from research done for the Youth AOD Toolbox.

How to use this Website

Identify

This section contains introductory information to issues and concerns commonly experienced by young people in OoHC. The ‘Identify’ page gives readers some signs to watch out for and questions to ask themselves and the young person if they are worried about them. On the side-bar of the page are links to relevant pages in the ‘Respond’ section which may be of interest to them.

Respond

Each of the topics in ‘Identify’ are revisited in this section, but within each there are many sub-topics which can be navigated with the side-bar menu. This section provides a greater depth of information and suggestions of how to deal with the specific situation.

You’ll notice there are some extra topics under the ‘Respond’ heading – Limit-setting, Trauma-informed Care, and Emotion Regulation. That is because these topics are relevant to responding to ALL the issues in the ‘Identify’ section.

Foundations

This section contains very detailed information on topics that are foundational to understanding young people in OoHC. The content in ‘Foundations’ is to provide a solid knowledge base for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the topics of Attachment, Trauma, Adolescent Development and Alcohol and Drugs.

Please contact us if you have any suggestions or feedback on the OoHC Toolbox.

Thank you and best wishes from the OoHC Toolbox Team