Becoming a Carer

The table below contains information on various scenarios of becoming a carer

The information outlined within this table is provided in further detail below

Scenario #1

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	‘Care’ is provided by an accredited person or a number of people in their own home for children and young people who cannot live with their own families. Carers are volunteers.
Role	Providing a safe, nurturing and stable home environment for all aspects of a child’s development – cultural, spiritual, psychological, physical, & emotional.
What to expect	Children may possibly be in a state of crisis, feeling scared and uncertain about their future. Some children may be withdrawn and shy.
Considerations	What length of placement are you willing to commit to? Do you have time to care for the child/children? Are you able to care appropriately for a child with complex needs?
Preparing	Get in touch with other carers via carer organisations, learn about their experience as a carer. Read materials and browse some internet websites on caring for children

Scenario #2

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	A carer is not the child’s parent, but an integral part of the care team responsible for a child in care.
Role	Day to day care and engagement with the child. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the child.
What to expect	When it is the best interest of the child, they may be reunited with their families. A challenging and rewarding experience of significantly contributing to the child’s life.
Considerations	Some placements will occur with short notice, which means there can be limited time to prepare for the child coming into your care.
Preparing	Learn as much as possible about the child coming into your care, so you can best understand them and consider what their needs will be.

Scenario #3

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Types of care situations: Respite care Emergency foster care Short term foster care Long term foster care Permanent care Click for more info on these Situations
Role	Your role is to be an active member in the care team for the child
What to expect	You can expect to be provided with information (medical, cultural, family, legal) to assist you to provide the best care for a child.
Considerations	How culturally informed or competent are you and what can you do to improve your cultural competence to care properly for the child?
Preparing	Research the different types of care situations, and what they involve.

Scenario #4

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Foster carers can apply to provide more than one ‘type’ of care.
Role	To care for the child and contribute to care planning for the child, depending on the placement type, this may be through input at meetings involving parents and professionals who are involved in supporting the child.
What to expect	Contributing actively in the decision-making process to inform the best interest planning of a child.
Considerations	What is your availability – this may determine the type of placement best suited to you – respite, short term, long term?
Preparing	Think carefully about what you can offer and your commitment to each type of placement.

Scenario #5

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Eligibility for caring centres on your ability to offer a child a safe and secure environment.
Role	Forming a positive relationship with the child that provides warmth, nurturing, support, stability and guidance.
What to expect	Reimbursement towards the cost of care (the value may be different in every state or territory).
Considerations	Consider how will other members of the family adapt to this change, in particular your own children?
Preparing	Prepare on a practical level for a placement. Ensure you have the space and material requirements to meet the needs of the child. Ask for assistance from the placement agency if you do not have adequate resources to care for a child.

Scenario #6

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Promoting positive relationships between child and family.
Role	Promote and support the relationship and connectedness of children with their family and community. Engaging with the child’s parents in a respectful and accepting manner.
What to expect	Liaise in relation to visits and ongoing communication of the child with their family.
Considerations	Consider the challenges involved in promoting positive relationships, and seek support from other carers and professionals to deal with any challenges you may face.
Preparing	Prepare yourself with positive and effective communication skills

Scenario #7

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Protecting the child in your care.
Role	Maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the child and their family.
What to expect	Ongoing training and support with sensitive issues.
Considerations	Consider carefully who you share information with about the child.
Preparing	Think about what information is important to share and with whom?

Scenario #8

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Being a member of a care team.
Role	Working collaboratively with the foster care agency, child protection workers, child’s parents/family.
What to expect	You can expect to be invited to meetings and share feedback about the experience and progress of the placement.
Considerations	Consider how you will contribute and work alongside others who are part of the ‘team’.
Preparing	Your feedback for the team and important information to share.

Scenario #9

Scenario	Solution
What is involved in ‘Care’?	Supporting a child or young person’s identity.
Role	Assisting a child or young person to maintain their cultural identity and observe their religious customs and spiritual beliefs.
What to expect	Your need to understand and support their cultural obligations and responsibilities. You can also expect supports to be available from the family of the child or local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisations, as appropriate.
Considerations	How can you best support the child’s continued growth of their identity?
Preparing	Researching the child’s cultural and spiritual needs.

Types of foster care

As described in the table, there are various types of foster care that can be provided to children and young people, depending on their needs. These include:

Respite care:

A temporary break for full-time carers, parents and guardians from their caring duties. Respite care is usually voluntarily arranged and can be for one or two weekends a month, or a week every school holidays.

Emergency care:

For children or young people who require an immediate placement in a safe environment. This is often due to safety concerns, and so placements may be urgent and often involve short notice to the carer.

Short-term care:

For children who require care for less than six months. After this time it becomes more likely that they are reunited with their immediate or extended family.

Long term care:

For children and young people who may not be able to return home for an extended period and require more long term care until a more permanent placement is found, until they become independent adults or until they return home.

Permanent care:

Permanent care is where a child or young person is placed with permanent carers who have been approved as suitable to be the child’s legal guardians, as they are unable to be cared for by their parents on a long-term basis.

Who can become a foster carer?

Foster carers come from all different walks of life, backgrounds and families. Foster carers are people who are able to provide a child or young person with a safe, secure and nurturing environment. Carers may be single, married, in a same sex relationship, working full time, part time or unemployed, with or without students/ children, house renters or owners of homes. A person’s race, gender, marital status, employment, sexuality and religion do not affect a person’s eligibility in becoming a carer.

What do foster carers do?

Foster carers provide day-to-day care for children and young people in their home. Activities can include transportation to school, after school activities, caring for children and young people when they are unwell, preparing meals, spending time with them and being supportive. Carers also provide a safe, stable and nurturing home environment and ensure that the spiritual, social, physical, cultural, emotional, and psychological needs of the child are met as best as possible.

Part of ensuring the healthy development of children and young people involves assisting them to keep in contact and continue positive relationships with their parents, siblings, extended families, communities and other significant people in their lives. Foster carers play an important role in encouraging and enabling this contact, which is usually planned. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, connection to family and culture are essential elements to promote wellbeing and a strong sense of identity. It is the role of the carer to promote the child’s or young person’s understanding of their culture and facilitate them maintaining their connection with their family and community. Find out more about this in ‘Value and Respect Culture’

Foster carers are an active part of a bigger care team, which ensures and priorities the best interest of children and young people in out-of-home care. Other members of care teams include the parents of the child or young person, the community service organization case worker, the child protection worker, and any other significant adult in the child or young person’s life. The role of a carer is to be respectful and cooperative when working with care team members and to work towards the goal of reunification of the child or young person with their family when this is in their best interest.

Things to consider:

Being a foster carer is an important and rewarding role, however, it involves a level of commitment, changes in lifestyle, and challenges. Becoming a carer also involves the whole family, so it is important to consider some important question and discuss these with your family members.

Lifestyle changes to consider

Having a new member in a household involves some adjustment. This adjustment will impact you, in your new role as a carer and also your family. It is important to consider whether you and your family will be able to adjust and warmly welcome a new member into the household. Having a conversation with those who would be affected by these changes is necessary to gain their opinions and to make an informed decision together as a family.

Life style changes also include having to dedicate time to the care of a child or young person. It is important that thought is given to whether you have enough time and energy available to be able to provide the best care and which type of care is best suited to you.

Thinking about whether this is the right time to become a foster carer is also important. All children and young people require attention, support and care, and those in out-of-home care are no exception. If you have significant life stressors or if your own family situation is unsettled, think about whether this will impact your ability to appropriately care for a child or young person and provide them with the time and attention they need.

Challenging behaviours

Children and young people in foster care can sometimes display difficult behaviour. This challenging behaviour often comes from experiencing trauma, being separated from their families and the feelings associated with this such as grief and loss. Because this is a common experience of children and young people in care, it is important to think about whether you would be able to cope with externalising behaviours and your level of patience and tolerance in these situations. Carers need to be able to address challenges they may face with flexibility and patience and persevere in caring for a child or young person.

Refer to Challenging Behaviours

Working as part of a team

Carers are one component of the care team of a child and young person in out of home care. Carers need to be able to work cooperatively and respectfully with other members of the care team, such as protection workers and the parents of the child. This also requires carers to maintain clear and open communication with community service organization staff and to be able to manage the different working relationships with workers.

Being culturally aware and sensitive

When caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children or young people, carers need to be able to promote and help facilitate them to maintain a positive connection to their culture and identity. It is highly important for carers to have the tools and resources to achieve this and also to have some understanding about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and protocols. Carers need to consider what further training or information they may need to appropriately promote and facilitate connection to culture and community.

Connection to Culture

What can carers expect?

To be provided with information needed to provide good care for a child or young person
Ongoing training and support from community service organisations and relevant government departments
Reimbursement towards the day-to-day costs of care
Being an active participant and support in a child or young person’s life
New learning and experiences
Challenges and rewards
Being involved in the decision making process
Working towards the best interest of the child or young person
To promote children and young people to maintain their cultural identity and their connection to family and community

State and Territory: Who to contact and the process of becoming a carer ?

The first step in the process of becoming a carer is to have a good understanding of what it means to be a carer, an understanding of who needs care and also of the challenges and rewards of being a carer.

Talking to your family and friends is also an important part of the process of becoming a carer. Your new role as a carer can impact those around you and your family. Family and friends are an important source of support when you are a carer, thereby it is important for them to know and understand the process you will be undergoing.

The process of becoming a carer and who to contact varies slightly from each state and territory in Australia. It also varies if you are applying to become a carer through a government department or a community service organization.

Typically, the application process contains the following components:

Attending an initial information session
Submitting an expression of interest
Police Check
Working with Children’s Check/ Blue Card
Interviews
Home Visits
Medical Checks
Referee Checks
Previous foster care check
Training and Assessment
Panel review of application
Registration

The process of becoming a carer can take about three to six months. This process is to ensure the appropriateness of carers, so they will be able to provide safe and supportive environments for children and young people. Although this may feel like a lengthy process, it also aims to equip you with the necessary information and training to prepare you for your new role.