A belief in the capacity of stories to shape meaning and change perceptions is fundamental to the work of the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University (WSU). A team of researchers from WSU wanted to use story-telling to promote feelings of identity and belonging among children and young people in the New South Wales Out-Of-Home-Care system.

 

Children and young people in care face the challenge of balancing what they know and how they feel about their birth families with their experience of the families and households currently providing them with love, support and security. It’s a difficult task in the best of circumstances, made even more difficult when children move from place to place in search of a ‘forever home’.

 

On behalf of the WSU team, and working closely with care sector stakeholders, Friday has developed a prototype for an app that encourages children and young people to record their thoughts and feelings and, over time, to build a story about themselves that feels both truthful and comfortable.

 

Friday will continue to support the WSU team’s efforts to test and refine the prototype, and to secure funding for its development.