Secondary consultations with mental health professionals supporting children and young people living in out-of-home care with speech, language, communication needs.

The number of Australian children living in out-of-home care (O0HC) is significant: 46,000 children, with 30,600 living in OoHC for more than two years (AIHW 2021). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over-represented in both the 00HC and Child Protection systems. In Victoria, Indigenous children are 16 times more likely to be removed from their family than non-Indigenous children. The health issue most commonly affecting children in 00HC, after behavioural/emotional health, is speech, language, communication needs (SLCN), with 45% of those under five years showing delays of concern (Nathanson & Tzioumi, 2007; Sylvestre et al., 2015). Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are thus in a unique position to positively impact the lives of infants, children, and youth in the OoHC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]