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Foyer Central Social Impact Bond     

Investor update     |     April 2022

Dear investor,

A lot has happened over the past six months, and we would like to update you on the progress of the Foyer Central Program.

The participants

There are currently 45 young people living at Foyer Central, which is slightly behind anticipated enrolment figures due to the lockdown in Greater Sydney from June to October last year. During that period, the Program received fewer referrals, and young people already in some form of housing and their advocates were less willing or able to recommend or support a move to new accommodation, such as Foyer Central, due to heightened anxiety about the pandemic.  

Uniting and the Department of Communities and Justice (the Department) have undertaken a range of activities to ramp up the volume of referrals as the latest Covid wave subsided. These have included updating the Foyer Central website, sharing newsletters with referral partners, running an open day in November and internal marketing within the Department.

The Program has now received over 160 referrals from a range of non-government organisations, the Department and self-referring young people. Of the total referrals, 84 young people referred were eligible, of which 17 did not continue or withdrew their application. 50 eligible young people proceeded to move into Foyer Central, two of which were the same person. The next intake assessment panel will meet in early April.

Five young people have exited Foyer Central to date, which includes three young people who have moved into independent housing whilst sustaining their employment. One young person exited to social housing and another young person exited but after a short period re-enrolled in Foyer Central.

Approximately 40% of residents at Foyer Central identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. The gender split is broadly 50:50, with one transgender student.

The support

A key learning for the Program to date has been the need to intertwine the Foyer Advantaged Thinking model with a trauma informed therapeutic approach whilst supporting Foyer Central participants. As a result, the Foyer Central team has increased its intensive induction period for new participants to 12 weeks to ensure that they are adequately supported as they transition into life at Foyer Central.

The lockdown period heightened the instability in student mental health and wellbeing, particularly as appropriate support services could not be brought in onsite. Uniting has been delivering trauma informed counselling services and mental health services with Quovus and has brought in specialist drug and alcohol support (St Vincent’s).

Foyer Central has also introduced a complex needs panel, which regularly reviews the needs of students experiencing complex intersecting challenges (including mental ill-health, drug and alcohol issues, unresolved trauma and disability and health diagnosis) and students having difficulty engaging with the Program. The reviews are supported by Quovas, who also run fortnightly group sessions on communication and strategies to manage a range of issues for young people including anxiety and stress, building better relationships and managing emotions. Young people have enjoyed the group learning experiences, as demonstrated by their high attendance and engagement with the sessions.

OzHarvest has been holding weekly sessions for students on healthy eating, meal preparation and food budgeting. There are opportunities for interested young people to undertake OzHarvest’s Certificate III in Cookery and work placements, and one student is currently enrolled.

Most students attend monthly house meetings, which are led by students. Foyer Central staff are present to ensure that meetings run smoothly and all student voices are heard.

Mia’s* first year at Foyer Central

Mia moved into Foyer Central in April 2021. She is a young 18-year-old Aboriginal woman, experiences anxiety and has been in kinship care with her Aunt since the age of 12. Mia sought out the Foyer Central Program due to overcrowding in her previous accommodation and her Aunt having to relocate elsewhere.

Since moving into Foyer Central, Mia has commenced meeting with a Quovus clinician each fortnight to help develop strategies to address her anxiety. This was the first time in Mia’s life that she has actively engaged with mental health support services.

Mia is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of NSW. She has been linked with support at university and receives assistance to help her time management.

Mia also commenced casual employment with Aldi in July and has recently completed a six-week internship with Sydney Airport in their health and wellbeing team. She has since been offered a second placement following a positive experience during the internship.

*The participant’s name has been changed to protect their privacy.

The opportunities

A focus of the Foyer Central Program is connecting students with employment and education opportunities. 16 students have completed the independent living skills course through TAFE NSW. A further 15 students are enrolled and will complete their learning this term.

Over half of the young people are engaged in some form of employment or education. The current spread of participants engaging with employment or education is summarised below. The Foyer Central team have developed individualised plans and supports to assist the eight young people not engaged in education or employment to manage immediate mental health concerns, build resilience, develop self-confidence and find pathways into employment and education activities. A number of young people enrolled in study are also seeking employment.

We look forward to sharing the first Foyer Central Social Impact Bond Annual Report with investors in December 2022.

Thank you for supporting Foyer Central, a program which we believe will help young people make a successful transition to independence, and ultimately help break the cycle of homelessness and disadvantage for young people with a lived experience in care in New South Wales.

Kind regards,

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