Abstract
The circumstances related to a 12-year-old girl reported missing in Queensland, Australia, highlighted the complexities at play when a young person from out-of-home care goes missing. Assumptions and discrepancies in community and system responses emphasised the paucity in knowledge associated with the reasons why young people and children go missing, what happens when they are missing, why they return (if they do), and the potential consequences for them. A better understanding of the factors that contribute to increased risk and vulnerability is vital in the development of prevention, intervention and reintegration program. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of Australian research explicitly investigating the problem of young people from out-of-home care going missing. The objective of this paper is to scope the context of the problem in Australia and to distinguish what has been and needs to be researched. Current Australian perspectives, terminology and definitions are delineated to frame the protocol of a scoping review of national and International literature. The paper outlines multifarious problems associated with the phenomena of young people and children missing from out-of-home care. Three broad themes were identified in the literature including; Drift of young people and children; Individual, systemic and organisational factors; and Needs of young people and children in care, as defined by them. The lack of research and general monitoring of the phenomena in Australia is impacting negatively upon practice to meet the individual needs of young people and children in out-of-home care prior to, when missing and when they return. This paper provides key considerations for the conduct of further research to hear young people and children's understanding of the factors at play when they are missing from care in Queensland, Australia and is significant to inform future practice and policy.