About Home Stretch WA

Home Stretch WA provides young people leaving out-of-home care with the option to continue to receive support up until the age of 21.

Home Stretch WA is delivered by Home Stretch WA service providers in locations across the state and is available to eligible care leavers age 18 to 21.

The Home Stretch WA model was co-designed with young people with lived experience of transitioning from care, with a particular focus on the needs of young Aboriginal people and their families.

Young people choosing to access Home Stretch WA are supported by:

A Transition Coach – A consistent youth worker who works with a young person to provide flexible, one to one support focused on coaching towards independence. The Transition Coach works from a set of practice principles ensuring support provided is focused on building a young person’s self-reliance, skills, capacity and connection to community, culture and Country.

A Smooth Transition – The Home Stretch WA Transition Coach can work together with a young person and their support circle from the age of 17.5 years to ensure a smooth transition into the Home Stretch WA program and a seamless continuation of support until the age of 21 years. Ensuring the young person is aware of their rights and can independently access support they are entitled to until the age of 25 years.

An Invest in Me Fund – Gives a young person the ‘right’ to a visible and secure financial safety net for resources to support them towards their aspirations and goals, or for crisis relief. Invest in Me funding is provided through the coaching relationship and administered by Home Stretch WA service providers.

Support Circles – A primary focus of support provided to a young person to grow and maintain an enduring network of personal, family and community connections. This support also includes the offer of assistance to map out connections to family, community and culture, and to help reconnect with family and historic relationships.

See also: See also: Home Stretch WA – Information for young people

Support to Access Subsidies: Staying On Subsidy or Housing Allowance – A young person can be supported to continue ‘staying on’ with an approved foster or family carer as a supportive adult. Foster or family carers supporting young people accessing Home Stretch WA can access a fortnightly subsidy payment and support through their Home Stretch WA service provider’s Staying on Facilitator. The payments are administered by the Department of Communities.

See also: Home Stretch WA – Information for foster and family carers

A young person choosing to live independently can be supported to access a Housing Allowance to help them afford a broader range of living arrangements, such as private rentals, or lodging arrangements.

When accessing this financial support, there is an emphasis on providing the young person with the skills and supports they need to secure and maintain safe and stable housing. The payments are administered by the Department of Communities.

See also: Home Stretch WA – Information about the Home Stretch WA Housing Allowance

More information about Home Stretch WA can be found at Home Stretch WA – Information for young people.

Or email HomeStretchWA@communities.wa.gov.au.

Home Stretch is a national campaign that has sought to drive change across Australia, introducing the right for young people to access high levels of support and resources until they reach the age of 21.

In 2018, the State Government committed to a trial of a Western Australian model of Home Stretch.

In 2019, Communities provided funding to Anglicare WA to manage a trial of the Home Stretch WA service model in the Fremantle child protection district.

The Home Stretch WA Trial was a highly collaborative project driven by the voices and expressed needs of young people, and in particular their experiences of ‘ageing out’ of the out-of-home care system at 18.

The Home Stretch WA Trial brought together stakeholders, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and young people to co-design a model of extended support for eligible care leavers age 18 to 21.