Rule 222.Independent living services

The rule for children who will leave care not by going home or being adopted, but by growing up.

The review. Where DSCYF provides independent living services directly or through a contracted agency, the court evaluates them and makes findings where applicable across six areas: financial stability; housing; medical benefits, including access to health care and other public benefits; employment and training; education; and community and individual connections to support the youth.

The last one is the one an institution is least likely to measure and a young person needs most. Somebody to call is not a service, and the rule makes the court ask about it anyway.

The credit report. For any child at least 16 years of age, the court ensures DSCYF provides a copy of their credit report annually and helps them interpret and resolve any inaccuracies. Children in care are targets for identity theft — their details pass through many hands and nobody is watching the file — and a young person can reach 18 already in debt they never incurred.

The transition plan. At least 90 days before the child's 18th birthday, the court ensures the parties have helped the child develop a personalised transition plan covering housing, health insurance, education, mentors, continuing support services, work force supports and employment, health care decisions, and the option to execute a health care power of attorney.

Before the birthday. The court ensures the child has been given a copy of their health and education records, and inquires whether the child is entitled to the expungement of any criminal charges and whether a petition for expungement has been filed for them.

Each of these is something an attentive parent would do, written down as a duty because the State is standing in for one. The expungement inquiry is the sharpest: a record acquired as a child in care should not follow someone into the first job application they make as an adult.