00:02For Joshua Prosso, family time often looks like this.
00:07Hello Grandpa, how are you?
00:09A visit to the grave of a relative he never got the chance to meet.
00:13It was a hole of despair when I had realised that there was this whole branch of my close family
00:17that had only passed away a few years ago that I'd never heard of.
00:19Josh spent about eight years in residential care,
00:22much of it in group homes with other young people facing their own trauma.
00:27In a way it felt like psychological torture being in the department
00:30because it felt like I was just locked in a room for years,
00:33just banging constantly on my door, yelling at my door.
00:36Now he's advocating for others transitioning out of departmental care
00:40when turning 18 means the end of state guardianship.
00:44I just remember this feeling of just deep emptiness.
00:47He says while he was supported to find a subsidised rental property,
00:52at 19 he doesn't have the same skills as most of his peers.
00:56He can't drive and only received limited schooling.
01:00He says the government needs to do more to set young people like him up for success.
01:05Making sure these young people are independent,
01:06making sure they're left with a job, a stable form of income,
01:09they're able to cook clean, that sort of stuff.
01:12A recent enquiry by the Guardian for Children and Young People
01:15made seven recommendations for improvement,
01:18including better housing certainty and support until at least 21.
01:22I think we have to be really much clearer about if the state is the parent,
01:27then what are the services, what are the offerings that the state are willing to provide.
01:33The department says the government has invested in a range of post-care and transition initiatives,
01:38and that it's working to further strengthen supports.
01:41Welcome news for those who say change can't come soon enough.
01:46Thanks for enjoying.
01:47Welcome!
01:47You
