Ten years of the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study and recent findings on supporting successful restoration

Thursday 18th June 2026, 12:00pm-1:00pm AEST, online via MS Teams

Hosted by Family and Community Services Insights, Analysis and Research (FACSIAR)

Details

The Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS), funded and managed by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), is Australia’s first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC). It collects information on safety, permanency and wellbeing and across key developmental domains, including physical health, socio-emotional wellbeing and cognitive/learning ability.

In the FACSIAR Lunch and Learn webinar, Marina Paxman, Project Manager, POCLS will present key findings from ten years of POCLS research. This includes the outcomes for children in OOHC related to the key well-being and developmental domains as well as education, permanency and leaving care outcomes.

The session will also outline new findings on restoration pathways. Recent research shows that restoration rates in New South Wales have declined over time, with fewer than one-third of children returning to their birth parents. Restoration is most likely within the first six months of entering care, becoming less likely over time, and is influenced by factors such as placement type, age, service access and case management approaches. We will hear from Dr Fred Wulczyn, Director for the Center for State-Child Welfare Data USA and Joanna Hopkins, Data Manager for POCLS about trends over time and the factors associated with successful reunification. They will provide evidence on the lived experiences of birth parents whose children were restored, with a focus on service access, family time, and post-restoration support.

Following these presentations, we will have a panel discussion on what these findings mean for policy and practice.

The webinar will be chaired by Jessica Stewart, Executive Director, FACSIAR, Department of Communities and Justice

Presenters:

Marina Paxman – Project Manager, Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS), FACSIAR, DCJ
Dr Fred Wulczyn – Director, Center for State Child Welfare Data, USA
Joanna Hopkins - Data Manager, Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS), FACSIAR, DCJ

Panel discussion:

Rebecca Hinchey – Manager, Restoration and Family Time, OOHC Programs, Child and Family, Strategy, Policy and Commissioning, DCJ
Carole Allaburton - Senior Project Officer, Aboriginal Culture In Practice Team, Child Protection Practice Office, DCJ

Questions or comments?

Contact: ResearchPartnerships@dcj.nsw.gov.au

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