International literature suggests that many young people transitioning from government care become parents before age 21, characteristically termed ‘early parenting’, at least in the English-speaking world. Yet there is only limited knowledge of the factors that lead to this challenging responsibility. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of service providers’ experiences working with young people transitioning from care who had become parents, in the state of Victoria, Australia. Victorian service providers recommended ways that current out-of-home care, transition from care and parenting services could be improved to reduce feelings of loss, including new service approaches that prioritise relationship-based practice, holistic support and practical assistance from a trusted person or service. Preventing feelings of loss and isolation and increasing supportive relationships in care and throughout transitions from care may help to prevent early pregnancy and parenting amongst care leavers who otherwise lack resources for parenting independently. Providing parenting support which addresses feelings of loss and social isolation may reduce the increasing numbers of children being placed in care, and associated ongoing cycles of child protection involvement with disadvantaged families.

国际文献表明，许多从政府照料过渡的年轻人在 21 岁之前成为父母，这通常被称为“早期育儿”，至少在英语国家是这样。然而，对导致这一具有挑战性的责任的因素了解有限。本文介绍了一项定性研究的结果，该研究对服务提供者在澳大利亚维多利亚州与从护理过渡并成为父母的年轻人合作​​的经历进行了研究。维多利亚州的服务提供者推荐了可以改进当前的户外护理、从护理和育儿服务过渡以减少失落感的方法，包括优先考虑基于关系的实践、整体支持和来自可信赖的人的实际帮助的新服务方法，或服务。防止失去和孤立的感觉，并在护理和整个护理过渡期间增加支持性关系，可能有助于防止护理离开者的早孕和育儿，否则他们将缺乏独立养育子女的资源。提供能够解决失落感和社会孤立感的育儿支持可能会减少越来越多的儿童被安置在照料中，以及与弱势家庭相关的儿童保护参与的持续循环。