exiting youth service

what you need to do to get young people ready to leave youth service

Learn about why young people leave Youth Service, and how you can support them to take their next steps.

reasons young people exit youth service

There are lots of reasons young people leave Youth Service. Some of the most common reasons are when young people:

  • age out of Youth Service (when they turn 18 (Youth Payment) or 20 (Young Parent Payment), and have received payments for a minimum of six months)
  • move back in with their parents
  • are no longer caring for children
  • earn too much money
  • become non-contactable.

Some of these – like aging out, are foreseeable, allowing you time to prepare but others – like repairing the relationship with their parents can happen at any time.

exit destinations

Depending on what they are doing after exiting Youth Service, there are different things you’ll need to do in addition to the rest of the exit process.  

Education
Young people can remain in youth service past when they age out if the
If a young person is going into full time study when they leave Youth Service you will need to support them to apply for support from StudyLink.
studylink | Youth Service providers

Work
When young people earn over a certain amount of income they can no longer receive a benefit and they’ll need to exit Youth Service.
work ready or already working | Youth Service providers

Main Benefit
When young people leave Youth Service without a job or an education opportunity to go to then you can support them to transfer to a main benefit.
transfer to a working age benefit | Youth Service providers

Moving overseas, prison or death
Moving overseas, being imprisoned or the death of a young person will affect a young person’s payments.
other support we offer | Youth Service providers

Non-contactable 
When you’ve done everything you can to get in contact with a young person, but you can’t, you may need to exit them from Youth Service.
when you can't contact the young person | Youth Service providers

Change in circumstances
There are some changes that might mean a young person has to exit Youth Service or transfer to another provider.
change in circumstances | Youth Service providers

what you need to do

Step one – Complete an exit plan with the young person

Your provider may have their own templates, but here are some that you can use that cover the basics.

Young Parent Payment Editable – Exit Youth Service plan
Young Parent Payment Printable – Exit Youth Service plan
Youth Payment Editable – Exit Youth Service plan
Youth Payment Printable – Exit Youth Service plan

Can’t get a hold of the young person? See the guidance about non contactable exits above.

Step two – Consider a payment card balance transfer

If the young person has funds remaining on their payment card they can get them transferred to their bank account, but they do not have to – they can continue using the funds on their payment card at approved stores if they chose.

payment card transfer | Youth Service providers

Step three – Close all open activities

Step four – Depending on their exit destination, support the young person to apply for the things they need and complete the exit tasks

See the links in the section above to see what they should be applying for by destination.

Step five – Use the Exit Client link to confirm the exit