Leaving care

Home Stretch

Contact Print
Home Stretch provides young people leaving care with a more gradual and supported transition to adulthood.

Home Stretch provides an allowance, case work support and flexible funding to facilitate the young person’s access to: 

  • housing 
  • health and wellbeing 
  • education 
  • employment 
  • community and cultural connections.

The allowance supports young people and carers to continue kinship care, foster care and permanent care living arrangements. 

Young people leaving residential care and other care types are eligible for an allowance to support them to achieve their transition goals up to 21 years of age.

Home Stretch is part of the Better Futures program. For more information, see Better Futures. 

Eligibility

Home Stretch is available to young people who were in: 

  • kinship care
  • foster care
  • residential care
  • permanent care.

Home Stretch is available to young people who were on a Children’s Court:

  • family reunification order 
  • care by Secretary order 
  • long-term care order
  • permanent care order. 

The young person must have been on one of these orders on or after their 16th birthday. Support via Home Stretch is available up to 21 years of age.

In the instance of young people on a family reunification order, a care by Secretary order or a long-term care order, Home Stretch arrangements start after a young person’s child protection order expires. 

Applications

Kinship, foster or residential care

Applications for Home Stretch are lodged with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing by case managers (DFFH Child Protection, contracted or ACAC) and a young person’s Better Futures worker. A young person (and carer where relevant) must consent to the referral.

Permanent care

For young people on permanent care orders, Permanent Care and Adoptive Families or Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency refer them to Better Futures who facilitate Home Stretch applications.

Visit Permanent Care and Adoptive Families

Visit Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency 

For more information refer to the Home Stretch webpage on our Services website.

Available supports

Case work

Better Futures workers support young people to prepare for their transition to adulthood, helping each young person set goals based on their individual needs, aspirations and talents.

Child Protection retains statutory case management responsibility whilst a young person is on a Child Protection order.

Once Child Protection involvement ceases for the final time, the Better Futures worker will become the key point of contact for them.

Accommodation allowances 

For young people in kinship care, foster care or permanent care, a care allowance will be paid to carers through the existing Departmental allowance payment system. 

For young people transitioning to independent living, the Better Futures worker will broker the Home Stretch accommodation allowance to support them to access independent or semi-independent community-based housing options, including through the private rental market.

Flexible funding (brokerage)

Flexible funding is available to facilitate the young person's goals for independence including to support access to education, employment and health and wellbeing supports.

These funds do not replace other discretionary funding, such as the Commonwealth Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA). Melbourne City Mission administers the TILA program in Victoria. 

Practice advice

To support the implementation of Home Stretch, a series of practice advice have been developed:

Application forms

Home Stretch application form is available in the Client Relationship Information System/Service Providers (CRIS/SP).

More information

For more information, see:

Contacts
Melbourne City Mission Leaving Care Hotline
1300 532 846
leavingcare@mcm.org.au

9 am to 8 pm weekdays and 10 am to 6 pm on weekends and public holidays.

Leaving care service providers
Leaving care service providers