Home Stretch WA – Information for foster and family carers

Home Stretch WA helps young people leaving out-of-home care at 18 in Western Australia transition to independent living and adulthood. 

It is a voluntary program, which includes supporting a Smooth Transition from out of home care, the development of informal support networks, and financial supports including a Staying on Subsidy or Housing Allowance, and an Invest in Me Fund.

Home Stretch WA - Fact Sheet for Young People (891KB)

Home Stretch WA – Information for foster and family carers (PDF, 192KB)

Home Stretch WA is a voluntary program. Eligible young people should receive information about Home Stretch from their case worker from age 15 and make an informed choice about whether to engage with Home Stretch WA.

From age 17, the young person’s case worker in the Department of Communities Child Protection District Office can make a referral to a Home Stretch WA service provider.

A young person who chooses to take up Home Stretch WA and wishes to continue in a stable living arrangement with an approved foster or family carer (where the carer agrees) can be supported through a Staying On Subsidy. The Staying on Subsidy is a fortnightly subsidy payment paid directly to the young person’s supportive adult.

The young person and their supportive adult must complete a Staying On Agreement, which outlines the supports and resources needed to make the living arrangement successful. The Agreement includes an expectation that the young person will contribute (or ‘chip in’) to their living expenses from their independent income.

Under the Agreement the supportive adult has access to one-to-one support and links to services through their service provider’s Staying On Facilitator as part of the Home Stretch WA offering. This support is typically less intensive than the supports provided to a foster carer of a young person in care (i.e. under the age of 18 years).

Home Stretch WA - Staying on Guide (PDF, 2.52MB)

A young person who is supported through a Staying On Agreement in a home that houses other children in care will be assisted to gain a Working with Children Check, as a requirement of all adults staying in a foster home.

Where the carer is supported by other foster care supports through the Department of Communities or a Community Service Organisation, the Staying On Agreement will include consideration of how those issues and existing supports provided might align with that provided through Home Stretch WA.

The Home Stretch WA Staying On Subsidy is not sufficient to cover the costs of a specialised foster care arrangement, nor has it been designed to provide a temporary subsidy payment to accommodate any delays in a young person’s transition to being supported by the NDIS. It also cannot be used as an additional or supplementary payment to another carer payment.

In these situations, the Department of Communities Child Protection District Office may choose to work in partnership with the foster or family carer, support agencies and NDIS provider to resolve the gap through an individualised agreement outside of the Home Stretch WA supports.

A young person and their previous foster carers can be supported to establish a Staying On Agreement or Housing Allowance. The choice of payment will be dependent on whether the supportive adult/s are still approved family or foster carers.

If the supportive adult is no longer an approved family or foster carer the Staying On Facilitator can support the adult to access a Housing Allowance payment, as a host home.

Housing Allowance: Information for Landlords, Real Estate Agents (PDF, 273KB)

An approved foster carer can also act as a supportive adult to any young person receiving supports through Home Stretch WA not just a young person they have cared for previously. The Staying on Facilitator will arrange a Staying On agreement and access to the Staying on Subsidy.

Staying On isn’t a foster placement, it’s a choice made by adults to continue a living arrangement. The foster or family carer acts as a supportive adult to the young person. Home Stretch WA provides a subsidy to support the young person’s contribution to living costs.

The Home Stretch WA Transition Coach will discuss health insurance (particularly ambulance cover) with the young person as part of holistic planning across the eight domains. This can also be discussed in the negotiation of a Staying On Agreement.

If there is an identified need for health, home or car insurance, the Transition Coach will work with the young person around planning for that expense and their contribution. This might include using the Invest In Me Fund and may include the young person chipping in to the family health insurance policy or supporting the young person to learn how to take out their own ambulance (or health) insurance.

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.

Home Stretch WA – Information for Special Guardians (PDF, 140KB)

Home Stretch WA can be accessed in all regions of the State. A young person who is eligible for Home Stretch WA can be referred to a service provider in their region through a Department of Communities District Office.

Young people with disabilities, including those under the NDIS are eligible for Home Stretch WA. The young person must have the ability to understand what Home Stretch WA is, the role of the transition coach and the minimum level of engagement required to participate in the program.

The young person should have a support person in attendance at the initial Home Stretch WA information session to assist them to make a choice about whether Home Stretch is right for them. The level of engagement will be dependent on a young person’s circumstances, and this would be negotiated to meet the needs of the young person.

It is important to note that the role of a Transition Coach is quite different to that of a NDIS Support Coordinator, or other NDIS support worker or recovery coach role. A transition coach, who is not trained in disability support, provides focused support to increase the young person’s independence and transition into a young adult after leaving care.

It can be disappointing to know that a young person may benefit from supports provided by Home Stretch WA but is not open to the option. Giving the young person the opportunity to review the Home Stretch WA service offer video and encouraging them to talk through the option with people in their support circle are helpful ways to support them to make the right choice for them.

It is also important to be clear about the alternative leaving care supports available to the young person after they reach the age of 18 years and encourage them to make an informed choice from all their options. Validating and supporting a young person’s choice and agency is an important part of building positive help-seeking and self-reliance.

The young person will have the option to request a referral into Home Stretch WA through any district office up to the time they reach the age of 20 years and 9 months.

It is the responsibility of the Home Stretch WA provider to let them know how to reconnect, and also to let the referrer in the district office know of the same information.

If a young person returns to a district office after the age of 18 years to seek assistance, the district duty officer or leaving care team should offer the young person the opportunity to be referred to Home Stretch WA.