Mentoring as a Pathway to Employment for Youth Leaving Out-of-Home Care

Lohmeyer, B. A., McGregor, J. R., & Mills, X. (2025). Mentoring interventions for young people ageing out of out-of-home care as a mechanism for the relational redistribution of capital. Child & Family Social Work, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.70114

Introduction

Young people aging out of out-of-home care (OoHC) face sharp, often abrupt transitions into adulthood with elevated risks of homelessness, unemployment, and social isolation. Lohmeyer and colleagues (2025) argue that mentoring is too often framed as a charitable “add-on,” overlooking its potential as a targeted intervention that actively builds identity, access, and belonging. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capital, the authors reconceptualize mentoring as a mechanism for relational redistribution of capital—a structured way to provide the social and cultural resources typically transferred through families and communities.

Methods

Out-of-home care (OoHC) provides alternative living arrangements for young people who cannot safely remain with their families. This theory-driven qualitative study used two online focus groups with seven practitioners supporting youth in OoHC in Victoria, Australia. Although the larger project aimed to include care-experienced young women, recruitment barriers resulted in practitioner-only data. Researchers used an abductive analytic approach: deductively coding findings using Bourdieu’s forms of capital (economic, social, cultural, symbolic), while inductively developing subthemes to interpret practitioner insights.

Results

Practitioners described how care leavers lack foundational economic capital (housing, transport, start-up costs), which blocks employment access. Mentors can support by improving navigation of entitlements, and not by giving money. Social capital gaps include limited networks and trust barriers; mentors can “fast-track” exposure to work opportunities. Cultural capital deficits involve workplace norms, conflict management, and understanding why employment matters. Symbolic capital reflects stigma and internalized low expectations; affirming mentors, especially care-experienced mentors, can counter symbolic violence and foster belonging.

Discussion

The authors contend mentoring should not be seen as a solution to structural injustice, but as a relational intervention capable of redistributing key forms of capital that shape opportunity. This lens shifts practice away from deficit framing and toward equity-oriented design, emphasizing mentor training in stigma, cultural navigation, and critical awareness of inequality.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

Mentoring programs for those leaving OoHC should embed funding for practical needs, prioritize structured networking, train mentors to teach “unwritten workplace rules,” and recruit mentors with lived care experience to counter stigma and support identity development.

Read the full paper here.