Children and young people across Australia urgently need foster carers. Could you open your heart and home to a child in need?
What is foster care?
Foster care provides a stable, caring environment for children and young people when they cannot live with their own families. This may be due to abuse or neglect, or a family crisis such as illness or homelessness. Children in need of care can be any age from birth – 18 years.
Children and young people need short-term, long-term care and respite care, for example, for one weekend per month.
Being a foster carer means opening your heart and home to give a child a safe and stable environment, while supporting them to reach their goals and live life to their full potential.
Types of foster care
Foster care is not necessarily permanent and long-term.
We need a range of carers to provide:
- short-term care - caring for children for a short time, which could be for up to three months
- respite care - one-off or planned periodic care for a child, for example, for one weekend a month, to provide respite for permanent foster carers or family members
- long-term care - permanent long-term foster care for a child until they are 18 years old where restoration, guardianship or adoption don’t support their needs.
About foster carers
Foster carers and their families can be the most important and impactful people in the lives of children and young people. Could that be you?
As a foster carer you:
- provide a safe and nurturing home environment that considers the child’s background, care needs and culture
- help ensure the child, and their family can build positive, healthy and safe relationships
- have the time, commitment and patience to support a child who may have experienced trauma and is separated from family.
You can be:
- a male and female couple
- a same sex couple
- a single person with or without children
- of any age from 18-years-old to mature-aged
- working or not working
- from any cultural background
What support do carers get?
We are committed to supporting you to feel confident, capable and informed. To do this we provide:
- a non-taxable foster care allowance that varies according to the type of care provided and the child’s individual needs
- comprehensive free training
- a dedicated Placement Support Officer to give you professional and practical support
- access to clinical support for carers
- access to EAPS
- continued support from Recruitment officer
- 24/7 on-call support for emergency situations
- links to state fostering associations and access to fostering forums
- peer support and contact with other carers in your area
Each child has a dedicated Placement Support Officer. These people support the child’s placement, individual needs and long-term goals.
We urgently need all types of foster carers across Australia. If you think you could be a foster carer, please get in touch for more information and a confidential discussion.
Call 1800 634 748 or fill in the form below and we will contact you.