Elise Hawthorne
This week is Foster Care Week, which has given me the opportunity to speak to a variety of foster carers – same sex couples, single mums, professional couples, older carers and each time I have I have felt very privileged to hear their stories.
The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (ACWA) is using Foster Care Week 2014, which runs from September 14 to 20, to highlight the pivotal work of foster carers in our community and the importance of ensuring they are valued and supported in their critical role.
Now into its 24th year, Foster Care Week gives foster care agencies across New South Wales the opportunity to honour this special group of people for the extraordinary work they are doing to bring stability and hope to the lives of children and young people in care, enabling them to thrive and reach their full potential.
Foster carers are special individuals; that is stating the obvious. The amount of love and compassion needed to become a carer to someone else’s child or in a lot of cases children never ceases to amaze and inspire me.
One such amazing foster care couple are same sex couple David and Chris who have been together for many years and have children placed with them through foster care agency Lifestyle Solutions for the last 6 years – ages 17yrs, 14yrs, 9yrs and 11 months.
They are both teachers and have worked in disadvantaged schools. In David’s position particularly, he was witness to children who needed to be removed to secure their safety, but finding foster care placements was always an issue, so Chris and David made the decision to become carers to try and make a difference and to create a family.
They are both strong advocates of children’s rights and take an active approach in promoting new types of foster care in the community. Chris and David believe in supporting their children in all aspect of their lives. They encourage them to get involved in sport and other activities. They place a great deal of importance in education and employ a tutor as additional support for their children in high school to ensure their ongoing success.
Foster carer Sharon Mitchell is a single mum who lives near Wollongong. She is in her mid 30’s and has 3 biological children (3 gorgeous girls aged 8, 11, and 13). Sharon is a crisis carer, taking in children on a temporary basis who have been removed from their families due to abuse and neglect, she looks after children from as young as newborn babies for a temporary period from a few days up to a year or more. She has fostered over 30 children over 7 years with Barnardos Australia.
Sharon grew up in a house where her parents were foster carers, and she said, “growing up sharing my home with other children was a very positive experience so I have continued the family tradition”.
What is also lovely is Sharon says her daughters get a lot out of being part of the foster carer experience, “it makes them better at sharing and they realise there are other people in the world worse off than themselves”.
Her daughters love helping to care for the children they take in and they say they want to be foster carers too when they grow up just like their mum.
Another amazing foster carer is Julie Saez who lives on the New South Wales (NSW) Central Coast. Julie has been a foster carer for 6 years and looks after a 5 year old, 10 year old and 13 year old. Julie works with Challenge Community Services, a foster carers’ service provider.
Julie began foster caring when her nephew came into care; she wanted to know that he was in the best and safest place he could be. This motivated Julie to open her house and heart to having other children living within her care. Julie is a very committed carer who thoroughly enjoys involving children in the garden and educating them about sustainable living and life cycles. Julie feels that children should know how to live from the land.
Jill De-Ath, Foster Care Ambassador and the Regional Coordinator Western NSW for Connecting Carers NSW has mothered many foster care children in need of care and believes,“children entering the care system, even at birth are traumatized by the mere fact they are not with their birth mother. That will always be there, but the input from a foster carer can have a profound effect on the way that child copes with life.
If they see their birth family or not the carer can make an amazing difference by the way they cope with that trauma, which at times doesn’t become evident until they reach their early teens. The predictability, love shown, life experiences gained, encouragement, patience, sense of humour, family inclusion, life story work all make a great carer.”
Jill is now Regional Coordinator covering what is known as Western, Far West and Murrumbidgee, this is 72% of NSW. She resides in the Camden area flying to these regions nearly every week for four or five days, two or three weeks of the month. She support carers, provide advocacy at meetings, organises and present ongoing training, camps and picnics, coffee and chat morning teas. She is involved in reading drafts of policy papers; regular attends regional meetings which are about the transition of foster carers to the non-government agencies (NGOs).
ACWA Acting CEO Dr Wendy Foote believes foster carers are integral members of an agency’s foster care team who work in close partnership with caseworkers to provide safe, supportive homes for vulnerable children.
A total of 450 new carers are required in NSW over the next 12 months, with a particularly high need for Aboriginal, emergency, respite and short term carers. Families are still needed to care for children long-term, with current legislative reforms enabling more adoption from out of home care when it is determined to be in the best interests of the child.
Foster carers are needed from all walks of life, from single people, young or old, married and same sex couples, empty nesters, and people from different cultures and religious backgrounds.
“Foster carers are the backbone of our child protection system, stepping in to care for children who might otherwise have nowhere to go,” Dr Foote said.
“Agencies value their incredible efforts and provide foster carers with as much support, training and mentorship as possible, to ensure they are connected, strengthened and equipped to provide the best care they can.”
This support now extends to online support via the Fostering NSW social media platforms and online Forum as Fostering NSW understands that today’s carers are using the latest technologies to access information and support.
Under major reforms introduced by the NSW Government in 2012, the responsibility for foster care services in NSW is gradually being shifted to non-government organisations (NGOs) in recognition they are able to deliver better outcomes for children and young people in care.
Minister for Family and Community Services Gabrielle Upton said the transition of out-of-home care to the non-government sector benefits everyone.
“This reform not only benefits children in assisting more stable placements through greater carer support, it also enables FACS caseworkers to focus on the most vulnerable families and provide the support to help prevent more children going into care,” Ms Upton said.
“We are fortunate in NSW to have a dedicated and robust non government sector made up of more than 50 accredited agencies that can provide more flexible and tailored services that children, families and carers need.”
To find out more about becoming a foster carer visit the Fostering NSW website www.fosteringnsw.com.au or call 1800 236 783.
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