FOSTER CARE
You can make a
difference in a child's life.
Become a foster carer today.
No child should be without a loving home. Especially during a national crisis.
BECOMING A FOSTER CARER
Wherever possible, children who are not able to live with their parents are placed with relative or someone close to them. When this is not possible, children are placed with a foster carer.
As a foster carer, you are expected to:
- Provide a safe, supportive and nurturing home environment
- Provide the best possible care and emotional support to meet the child’s everyday needs
- Help the child maintain a relationship with their parents and other family members
- Support the child in their education and recreational activities
Have questions? See our FAQs or contact us today.
TYPES OF CARE
While Out of Home Care is often referred to simply as foster care, there are a number of different types of care for children and young people who enter OOHC.
The types of care include;
Emergency Care
When children and young people need immediate care to ensure their safety, they require carers to be available at very short notice. This type of care can be required for days, weeks or up to 3 months whilst further planning is undertaken to ensure the best care option for the child or young person.
Short Term Care
This care arrangement may be required for children and young people for a period of up to two years when the goal is to support the child or young person return to their family.
Permanent Care
In some situations, children and young people are unable to return their birth family and require a new family to care for them until maturity.
Respite Care
Respite care involves caring for a child or young person on an occasional basis. This usually occurs over weekends or school holidays and is planned in advance.
Intensive Therapeutic Care
Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC) is a service system that helps children and young people who are recovering from the most severe forms of trauma, neglect, abuse or adversity.
ITC is for children and young people over 12 years with complex needs who are either unable to be supported in foster care or require specialised and intensive supports to maintain stability in their care arrangements.
Anglicare provides full-time ITC homes in Sydney’s West and South West and in the Riverina, Central NSW regions and Queanbeyan. The ITC homes care for to up to four young people in each house and are staffed full-time by Anglicare Youth Workers.
ITC provides safe, stable accommodation for young people usually aged over 12 years who have complex care needs. The plan for young people living in a residential home is usually for them to be prepared to be able to live in a family environment with a foster family or with their kin or to return home to their birth family. Often young people aged 15 years and older will choose to remain in an ITC home until maturity.
ITC homes were previously known as residential care.
Therapeutic Home Based Care
Therapeutic Home Based Care (THBC) is a flexible service type that involves the provision of 1:1 home-based care to high needs children and young people aged 12 years or over.
THBC differs from foster care as the children and young people receive 1 one 1 care with a strong focus on therapeutic services.
Examples of why a child or young person may require THBC includes: disability, high medical needs, specialised behaviour support required or sexualised behaviour.
The carers allowance will reflect the higher needs of the children and young people. Carers must be available to meet the high and complex needs of the children or young people. This means that they must be available at any time to provide direct care for the children or young people, for example if they are unable to attend school or have appointments. The complexity and needs of these children and young people mean that the carer’s primary role is to look after the child or young person. If they are employed they will need flexible arrangements to support this role.
ABORIGINAL CHILDREN IN CARE
Anglicare acknowledges that there is an alarming over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care. Statistics show that the rate for Indigenous children is almost ten times higher than that of non-indigenous children.
Anglicare is keen to recruit carers who are committed to supporting and caring for Aboriginal children as part of their transition back into family and community.
Anglicare acknowledges the importance of keeping children connected with Country and Community and are guided by a cultural safety practices framework. We also work alongside Aboriginal-controlled foster care agencies.
If you would like to know more about Anglicare’s commitment to Reconciliation please visit our Reconciliation webpage.
ABORIGINAL ORGANISATIONS
Anglicare has partnered with Orange Aboriginal Medial Services to coordinate the Yiriyirimbang Out of Home Care service in Western NSW. Yiriyirimbang (which means Happy, Sacred, Comforted) is an Aboriginal agency under the banner of Anglicare with an aim of helping children in care remain connected to their Aboriginal culture and identity.
The service also supports families to maintain the care of their children, and/or have their children restored to their long-term care. This will involve working intensively with families, Case Managers and Care Teams to implement practice frameworks that increase parenting capacity and provide sustained protective care for children.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a foster carer?
A foster carer provides a supportive and safe home environment for children who have experienced trauma such as abuse or neglect and can no longer live with their families for a time. Foster carers provide care for children and young people until they can safely return to live with their family or when this is not possible, until they move to live with a new permanent family. Foster carers may also support children, young people and their families by providing respite care.
Who can be a foster carer?
There is not one type of person who makes a good foster carer. We seek carers from a range of ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds in order to meet the diverse needs of children requiring care. Carers must be 25 years or older and can be single men or women, married, de facto or same-sex couples, with or without children.
To be eligible as a foster parent, you must also be prepared to undergo a National Police Check, hold a Working with Children Check (NSW) and be willing to have a Community Services Check completed. It is also an expectation that foster carers commit to participating in ongoing professional development to continue to learn and develop new skills.
Will I receive any training as a foster carer?
Yes. All foster carers are required to complete mandatory training during the application process and be willing to participate in ongoing training to help them develop skills as a carer.
Can I be a foster carer if I already have children?
Yes. However, children who enter foster care often have very complex needs and require the commitment and support of all family members. With this in mind, it is crucial to talk with your children when considering fostering care to understand their views. We suggest you speak to our staff to help you determine whether fostering is right for you and your family at this time.
Can I be a foster carer if I work?
This is dependent on the needs of the child and the type of care you are providing. For permanent care, we usually request one parent to be at home for up to 12 months at the start of the placement, particularly for children aged under five years old. For other types of care it is usual that carers continue to work.
Do foster carers receive financial support?
Foster carers are paid a weekly allowance to cover the expenses of caring for a child such as food, clothing recreation and educational needs. The amount you receive is dependent on the age and complexity of the child you are caring for and does not affect other government benefits you may already be receiving. Financial support to foster carers is not considered a taxable income by the ATO.
What support will I receive from Anglicare?
In addition to the financial allowance, Anglicare provides a dedicated case manager, regular ongoing training, access to specialist services and a support line for advice and assistance that is operational 24hours a day, 7 days a week.
Where does Anglicare need foster carers?
Anglicare is seeking all kinds of families for all kinds of children in Wagga Wagga, Albury, Leeton, Orange, Goulburn, Bega, Moruya, Liverpool, Nowra and the surrounding regions.
What is Out of Home Care (OOHC)?
Out of Home Care (OOHC) is a term that is often used interchangeably with foster care but foster care is just one type of OOHC. Other types of care include intensive therapeutic care (ITC) or kinship care.
OOHC supports children and young people up to under 18 years who can no longer live at home with their parents. The needs of children in OOHC vary greatly from low-support needs to children with complex needs due to history of trauma and abuse.
For some children and young people this is for a very short period – weeks or months – and for others they will need to grow up permanently in a new family. The care needs of children in OOHC are very complex and uniquely individual and will be dependent on their history and the traumas they have experienced prior to entering care.
OUR FOSTER CARE OFFICES
CONTACT US
Do you have any questions about becoming a foster carer?
Contact our team using the details below or submit your enquiry via our Contact Us form.
