The Home Stretch WA Community of Practice (CoP) Team would like to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Shelley Farmer as she moves on from her role as a Lived Experience Consultant with the Anglicare WA CoP. The Lived Experience Consultant roles were designed by young people to provide leadership and guidance to the Home Stretch WA Rollout for 12 months and opportunities for young people to work towards a career pathway.
Shelley began her journey with Home Stretch through the Home Stretch WA Trial in 2019 as a member of the Youth Advisory Group. Shelley along with 137 other young people were central to the testing and design of the Home Stretch model to ensure it represented what young people identified as important for an offer of extended support for young people leaving Out of Home Care.
Shelley continued her advocacy by leading the Home Stretch WA CoP Youth Advisory Group over the past 12 months, providing leadership, mentoring and support for young consultants and Home Stretch WA participants to have their voice heard and give input and feedback throughout the roll out. She also played an integral role in establishment workshops for new providers, co-facilitating training and workshops, contributing to practice hours and working groups across the CoP Network and the external evaluation of Home Stretch to ensure young people's voices and experiences are represented.
During her time with the Home Stretch WA CoP Shelley completed a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and built her networks and connections across the state. Shelley has moved on to use her skills in advocacy to work in the City of Melville where she has taken on a leadership role for their youth engagement programs and services within the local community.
Shelley's courage and boldness to stand up for the voices of young people and Aboriginal Community has inspired many and she will be missed but she leaves behind a team of Lived Experience Consultants who will continue to advocate for the voice of young people in 2024.
