From the Victoria State Government, February 2020
The safety and wellbeing of young people and staff is paramount in providing
residential care in Victoria. Attention needs to be directed at ensuring young
people placed in residential care receive the necessary support to enable them
to achieve the same outcomes as their peers in the broader community.
A significant proportion of young people in residential care have experienced
extensive abuse and neglect. The impact of this trauma may lead to behaviours
of concern that present as challenging, complex or offending behaviour.
Children and young people in care services experience a higher incidence of mental
health, disability, emotional and behavioural difficulties than other children and
are at greater risk of contact with services such as police and the youth justice
system. Furthermore, young people in residential care are more likely to present
with risk-taking behaviours such as self-harm, aggressive or sexualised behaviours,
substance abuse and other activities that place them, or others, at high risk as a
manifestation of the trauma they have experienced.
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