Home Stretch WA - eligibility

Home Stretch WA provides young people leaving Out of Home Care in Western Australia with the option to continue to receive support up until the age of 21.
Last updated:

Home Stretch eligibility

Who is eligible for Home Stretch WA?

Home Stretch WA is gradually being introduced across WA as part of broader reform work that is improving how support is offered and provided to young people transitioning from out of home care. To ensure that the program can be scaled across the State with integrity to the co-designed model of care, several eligibility criteria have been established. These include:

  • The young person turned 18 years old on or after 1 July 2022.
  • The young person is connected to a Department of Communities district office and there is a Home Stretch WA provider available in the area where the young person lives.
  • The young person is eligible for leaving care assistance as set out in the Children and Community Services Act 2004 (section 96) –
    • a) the person has left the CEO’s care; and
    • b) the person is under 25 years of age; and
    • c) at any time after the person reached 15 years of age they were:
    • the subject of a protection order (time limited) or protection order (until 18); or
    • the subject of a negotiated placement agreement in force for a continuous period of at least six months; or
    • provided with placement services under section 32(1)(a) of the Act for a continuous period of at least six months.

Are young people who were on Special Guardianship Order eligible for Home Stretch WA?

Young people who were placed on a Special Guardianship Order after turning 15 years old are eligible for Home Stretch WA and qualify for leaving care assistance (under s.96 of the Children and Community Services Act 2004), provided the Special Guardianship Order was replacing a protection order (time-limited) or protection order (until 18).

Young people who were placed on a Special Guardianship Order before they turned 15 years old are not eligible for leaving care assistance or the Home Stretch WA program due to not meeting legislation requirements under s.96 of the Children and Community Services Act 2004.

Are young people living in a regional area eligible for Home Stretch WA?

The Department of Communities is working to establish Home Stretch WA service providers in all regions across WA through a staged roll out. 

In order to offer as many young people as possible some of the benefits of the Home Stretch WA service offer, an ‘Interim Staying On Subsidy’ has been developed to support eligible young people living in a region that does not yet have a commissioned Home Stretch WA service provider.

The Interim Staying On Subsidy provides a way for young people to continue to be financially supported to live with their foster or family carer past 18, while they wait for a Home Stretch WA service provider to be commissioned in their region.

If you are a foster or family carer of an eligible young person, living in a region that is yet to have a Home Stretch WA provider in place, please contact your local District Office and ask them about how to access Interim Staying On Agreements.

Are young people with disabilities eligible for Home Stretch WA, including those under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)?

Yes, if they meet the eligibility criteria. For a young person living with a disability that limits their capacity to live independently, or where a young person has complex care needs (Needs Assessment Tool (NAT) Level 5), the following eligibility criteria must be met:

  • The young person must have the capacity to make an informed choice about engaging with a Home Stretch WA service provider.
  • An NDIS support package must be in place and appropriately resourced to meet the daily living needs of the young person.
  • A funded coordination function must be included in the NDIS package.

If a young person meets the eligibility criteria above, referrals made to a Home Stretch WA service provider must not be intended to substitute for, or create a temporary solution in lieu of, an appropriate support package through the NDIS.

It is important to note that a Staying On Subsidy is not available where the carer is in receipt of, or eligible for, the Centrelink Carer Payment. This is because the Carer Payment rate (and any supplementary payments and allowances where relevant) will be much more than the Staying On Subsidy, which is $450 per fortnight in the first year. However, the young person and carer would have all other supports available under Home Stretch WA such as one-to-one support from a Transition Coach and the young person would have access to Invest In Me funding, as required.

Home Stretch WA (main page)