Opportunities in Middle Childhood: Multiple System Involvement During Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence in Northern Territory, Australia

Abstract

Middle childhood offers a crucial window to identify and support children at risk of adverse outcomes in adolescence. This retrospective cohort study examined how data from multiple systems could identify children with the greatest need for support during middle childhood and early adolescence. Using individual level linked records from health, education, child protection and justice system for children who were enrolled in Northern Territory government schools in Year 1, we studied the relationships between system involvement/school engagement in middle childhood (ages 5–9) and subsequent system involvement/service usage during early adolescence (ages 10–13). Latent class analysis identified five distinct groups with varying patterns of system involvement. Notably, one group (12.1%) exhibited frequent contact with multiple systems, high school mobility between remote and urban regions, and high educational risk, contributing disproportionately to service usage. Early system involvement during middle childhood often preceded escalating service needs in adolescence, with early multi-system contact emerging as a leading indicator of service use in later years. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of a ‘systems thinking’ approach, with coordinated cross-agency responses and enhanced early interventions to better support vulnerable children, especially those engaged with multiple systems.