Does anyone foster in Australia

**sandk** · 31-12-2011, 08:45 PM

Hi there we are hoping to go to Australia in 2013. At the moment we are foster parents in UK and have been for the last five years. Until 3 weeks ago I had four foster children and my own birth daughter all aged 8 and under - it was a busy 10 months! Now two have moved on and two remain with us. I am on my own a lot as my hubby is in the Army - he is about to deploy for 6 months to sandy shores. I was wondering if anyone fosters in Australia and if any courses etc over here would be worth committing to whilst he is away in order that when we get to Australia we could foster again. We are with a private fostering agency as most councils ran a mile when they heard he was in the army and we would be moving every 2 years. We have found the pay good and the back up even better - anyone with any expereince?

Thank you - oh and Happy New Year!

**Guest31881** · 31-12-2011, 09:01 PM

Hi,

We looked into this a couple of years ago, but circumstances overtook us and we never went through with it.. I live in QLD so this may be state specific and vary from state to state.

There is an initial interview where they come to your house and have a chat about adoption, followed by an invitation to attend a day session about adoption. it then moves on to the selection procedure and further training. I believe the time scale was around 12 months from applying to acceptance.

That's as I remember it from a couple of years ago.

**ali** · 31-12-2011, 09:28 PM

Here's a link for fostering in WA

http://www.dcp.wa.gov.au/Fosteringan...terCaring.aspx

**guest36187** · 31-12-2011, 09:35 PM

Adoption in QLD is notoriously hard, not sure re fostering tho.....

**Guest31881** · 31-12-2011, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Joanne

Adoption in QLD is notoriously hard, not sure re fostering tho.....

It seems to be more time consuming, when we were looking into it we were told that they were desperate for Foster parents in QLD, but the time scale then was at least 12 months before you knew if you were accepted...

**sandk** · 31-12-2011, 11:54 PM

Thank you for the link. We know that they need carers and we know that we should be able to transfer over some of our skills, but it will be difficulot to establish who our support networks are likely to be etc which might make th einitial process more daunting. Also not sure how long residency would need to be or if only australian citizens etc. Fostering is a very different beast to adoption and we are very keen to continue to foster. I would love to know anyone who has experience of the UK system and the Australian - I am pretty sure the frustrations must be similar!

**Johndoe** · 01-01-2012, 12:04 AM

We fostered for 11 yrs but have been out of the loop for about 4 yrs now so things may have changed but I can give you my observations re fostering in Qld as we encountered it:

Psychological profiling took about 12 visits in 3 months and during that time, we also had to attend 8 one hour sessions to familiarise us with fostering in general/protocols etc. Once accepted, a number of training sessions (about 6 a year) were compulsory in order to bring carers "up to speed" on new developments within the care system.

Safety officers were grossly overworked and underpaid and often unavailable so that in the case of many emergencies that arose, we could be "on our own" for many hours.

Emotional blackmail by the dep't was often the main tool for 'persuading" you to "hang on" to a placement when it was clear that the relationship between the carers and the child had no chance of improving/resolving. Not their fault, they simply had to do all in their power to keep a child placed due to lack of carers.

"Family re-unification" seemed to be the mantra (at all costs) often at the cost of the child and at the cost of the carer's misgivings/state of mind. Children were often returned to parents only to be returned to the carer at a later date.

Constant advocacy by the carer was the only way to "get through" to the case officer what the carer thought was in the best interests of the child. That advocacy often fell on deaf ears due to budgets/protocols/ignorance or simply because the safety officer was from the "old school" or the "new school" and in opposition to the carer's POV, even though the carer was "at the coal face"

Case officer turnover was at a very high rate with one of our charges having 5 case officers in less than 2 years. Previous case officers seemed not to 'keep up to speed" on paperwork/briefings so that new case officers often picked up their case load "blind" ie had no idea what had gone on with previous case officers or the child in question.

Budget restraints meant that many cases were not acted on in the best interests of the child eg. One girl we fostered was very promiscuous due to sexual abuse. We advocated an all girls school but these being private, and even with a recommendation from a psychiatrist, funding of $800 dollars a term was refused. We funded it ourselves as we did the psych sessions.

Quite a few carers we considered as "dubious". They would take on babies but as soon as the babies were toddling, claim unacceptable behaviour and move them on. They would then ask for another baby and the circle went on. The department are aware of this practice but at least the babies were safe for a while. Children often came into our care, who, having been in care for several years, had little or no personal posessions and "no @rse in their pants". Some carers seemed to view fostering as a money spinner by keeping their charges deprived of the full fostering allowance. Again. the dep't was aware of this practice but as long as the child is safe, seemed to turn a blind eye.

Despite the doom and gloom I paint above, and the constant hassle created by strong advocacy, we never regretted fostering and would still be fostering now if not for my ill health. The rewards make it all worth while and when a child (now young adult) turns up on your doorstep and apologises for their earlier behaviours, asking if they can keep in contact and call you "mum and dad", then what more reward can you ask for. I am awaiting the birth of my second grandson to my (foster) daughter who we once despaired of. She is a perfect example of good motherhood, a wonderful parent, a loving and caring partner to her spouse and has broken that cycle of violence/abuse............the whole point of fostering IMHO. It's not enough to keep the kids safe, we have to break that cycle.

good luck

**Skani** · 01-01-2012, 01:01 AM

Do you know where in Australia you will be living? Child welfare is administered by the states so each state has a separate procedure - pay and support will vary from state to state. However all of them seem to be crying out for foster parents so I am sure you would be welcomed with open arms if you volunteered.

**sunni1234** · 01-01-2012, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by Johndoe

We fostered for 11 yrs but have been out of the loop for about 4 yrs now so things may have changed but I can give you my observations re fostering in Qld as we encountered it:

Psychological profiling took about 12 visits in 3 months and during that time, we also had to attend 8 one hour sessions to familiarise us with fostering in general/protocols etc. Once accepted, a number of training sessions (about 6 a year) were compulsory in order to bring carers "up to speed" on new developments within the care system.

Safety officers were grossly overworked and underpaid and often unavailable so that in the case of many emergencies that arose, we could be "on our own" for many hours.

Emotional blackmail by the dep't was often the main tool for 'persuading" you to "hang on" to a placement when it was clear that the relationship between the carers and the child had no chance of improving/resolving. Not their fault, they simply had to do all in their power to keep a child placed due to lack of carers.

"Family re-unification" seemed to be the mantra (at all costs) often at the cost of the child and at the cost of the carer's misgivings/state of mind. Children were often returned to parents only to be returned to the carer at a later date.

Constant advocacy by the carer was the only way to "get through" to the case officer what the carer thought was in the best interests of the child. That advocacy often fell on deaf ears due to budgets/protocols/ignorance or simply because the safety officer was from the "old school" or the "new school" and in opposition to the carer's POV, even though the carer was "at the coal face"

Case officer turnover was at a very high rate with one of our charges having 5 case officers in less than 2 years. Previous case officers seemed not to 'keep up to speed" on paperwork/briefings so that new case officers often picked up their case load "blind" ie had no idea what had gone on with previous case officers or the child in question.

Budget restraints meant that many cases were not acted on in the best interests of the child eg. One girl we fostered was very promiscuous due to sexual abuse. We advocated an all girls school but these being private, and even with a recommendation from a psychiatrist, funding of $800 dollars a term was refused. We funded it ourselves as we did the psych sessions.

Quite a few carers we considered as "dubious". They would take on babies but as soon as the babies were toddling, claim unacceptable behaviour and move them on. They would then ask for another baby and the circle went on. The department are aware of this practice but at least the babies were safe for a while. Children often came into our care, who, having been in care for several years, had little or no personal posessions and "no @rse in their pants". Some carers seemed to view fostering as a money spinner by keeping their charges deprived of the full fostering allowance. Again. the dep't was aware of this practice but as long as the child is safe, seemed to turn a blind eye.

Despite the doom and gloom I paint above, and the constant hassle created by strong advocacy, we never regretted fostering and would still be fostering now if not for my ill health. The rewards make it all worth while and when a child (now young adult) turns up on your doorstep and apologises for their earlier behaviours, asking if they can keep in contact and call you "mum and dad", then what more reward can you ask for. I am awaiting the birth of my second grandson to my (foster) daughter who we once despaired of. She is a perfect example of good motherhood, a wonderful parent, a loving and caring partner to her spouse and has broken that cycle of violence/abuse............the whole point of fostering IMHO. It's not enough to keep the kids safe, we have to break that cycle.

good luck

Wonderful and inspiring/honest post