Pitching Possibilities: Aboriginal Youth Leading Change in OOHC

Aboriginal children and young people remain significantly overrepresented in out-of-home care (OOHC), though their voices remain marginalised in decision making and system reform. Reported here is an event where two Aboriginal young people in NSW with lived experience of out-of-home care were supported to pitch their ideas for change to service professionals. This approach drew on the “Advocate” component of the “Reconceptualising Services from the Perspectives of Children and Teens” (ReSPECT) model. Two key proposals were pitched. First, reforming placement-matching practices to ensure the voice of children and young people were included in decisions and an appropriate level of information is shared prior to placement changes. Second, enabling young people’s involvement in caseworker matching including in the recruitment process of caseworkers and in providing a choice of caseworkers to young people ensuring an appropriate match. The pitch event demonstrated that embedding youth voice in practice and service reform is both feasible and essential. The authors advocate for changes that uphold the rights of Aboriginal children and young people and support culturally safe participatory practices.IMPLICATIONS Intentionally creating opportunities for Aboriginal children and young people to contribute to service design leads to more responsive, culturally safe practices in OOHC.Embedding youth voices to become a standard practice requires supportive organisational structures.The use of simple, yet intentional tools and processes, such as the pitch format utilised in this project, can support practitioners to prioritise youth voices and develop greater confidence in facilitating youth participation.