Foster care - starting your journey

There are multiple grounds for children to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Each case is unique and often includes many factors occurring together. Some of the more common reasons include:

• Severe neglect (67% of cases)
• Financial stress (66% of cases)
• Domestic violence (52% of cases)
• Parental substance abuse (50% of cases)

Other reasons can include:

• Parental illness
• Intellectual disability
• Parental mental health

There are a number of different types of foster care – all of which are just as vital:

• Emergency care – can be overnight or up to two weeks
• Short-term care – two weeks to two years
• Long-term care – up to 18 years of age (and sometimes 21 years)
• Respite care – often one weekend per month, one week in school holidays, or just an overnight stay
• Specialist/therapeutic care – for children and young people with high and complex needs

Preparing for the potential placement of a First Nations child 

In South Australia, 33% of children who come into care are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

As a child protection system, we try to adhere to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander placement principles, connecting children and young people to kin and culture where possible.

Unfortunately, we still have a large number of Aboriginal children placed with non-Aboriginal families. To meet the cultural needs of Aboriginal children in care, a special part of your assessment will guide you in seeking, sourcing and understanding how to connect to the culture and community of an Aboriginal child. We will help you build confidence in your exploration, as you build competence in your knowledge base.

Part of the assessment will be to demonstrate an existing connection, so we ask that you personally visit Aboriginal services and talk to staff about the different services that they offer.

We will walk beside and support you through every step of your foster care journey with AnglicareSA. This usually means intensive care for your first twelve months, as well as ongoing support and development opportunities as time goes on. Support levels are also tailored to the type of foster care you’re undertaking, and the needs of the child in your care.

Throughout the year we also provide events and other opportunities for you to connect with other foster care families in a relaxed setting.

AnglicareSA supports foster care families across the Adelaide metro area, from the Barossa and Clare Valley, through to Victor Harbor and Kangaroo Island.

We have three regional teams who provide support to our families:

• Northern support team based at Elizabeth
• Southern support team based at Christies Beach
• Central support team based at Hindmarsh

Financial Support

Foster Care is considered to be a ‘voluntary’ endeavour.

Carers receive a non-taxable/non-declarable subsidy payment for providing foster care. The subsidy may increase depending on the needs of the child.

Centrelink entitlements may be available depending on your individual financial situation. All money received is reimbursement for the care of the child and is not viewed as income.

As well as a big heart and open mind, the journey to becoming a foster carer involves a mandatory training, documentation and assessment process. We will help you through gathering the information required and work with you to register for training sessions.

Training

Most of the mandatory training for foster carer applicants takes place at AnglicareSA’s head office in Hindmarsh and includes a mix of face-to-face and online sessions.

All training is provided free of charge. The courses run monthly, and include:

Shared Lives foster care pre-assessment training

• Day one and two (run over two full days or four half-day sessions)
• Day three – half-day of training to be completed after your face-to-face assessment

Safe Environments for Children & Young People (mandated notification)

• One full-day of training (with half-day refresher required every three years)

Building Cultural Competency – online training package to support learning and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history.

Caring for infants (0-2 year olds)

• Training is offered if you express interest in caring for this age group
• Two-hour session (with refresher required every two years)

Kid Safe – child safety

• If considering the care of 0-2 year olds, this half-day training is compulsory and needs to be updated every two years
• All other carers are strongly encouraged to attend this training

First Aid Training (to be updated every three years)

All training, except First Aid training, needs to be completed before your face-to-face assessment. If you have a current certificate for any of the training, you do not need to repeat them.

Required documentation

Working With Children Check (WWCC)

• This must be completed by:
  • all members of your household who are over 18 years.
  • any regular visitors that visit your home
  • anyone that you have identified as a support for you as foster carer

Other documents you will need to provide to AnglicareSA at the beginning of your journey into foster care include the following:

*Please note: we will provide you with the relevant documentation to collect this information.

• GP report of emotional, mental and physical capacity to provide foster care
• House and yard plan of your home, including holiday homes
• Family history map – as part of your application, your close networks including regular visitors to your home and extended family members and support networks, will be identified and submitted to the Department for Child Protection for a Child Protection History Check. You will need to inform these individuals that you are submitting their name on your foster carer application.

Assessment

Once training has been completed, you will be partnered with an assessment worker to support you through the while journey.

Assessment includes:

• an initial home visit to officially start the assesment process, complete paperwork together, understand the fit with your family and perform home safety checks
• further home visits which will be arranged with you
• evidence-based competencies, as identified by the Department of Child Protection.

Once all home visits have been completed, your assessment worker will submit your report, and make a recommendation on behalf of AnglicareSA to the Department of Child Protection. The Department’s Carer Approval and Review Unit (CARU) will make the final decision in relation to carer approvals.

The timeframe to complete the compulsory training is up to you, depending on your availability to book and attend training sessions. Once we begin the face-to-face part of your assessment, the aim is to complete these sessions with you of usually around eight visitis, depending on the circumstances, in a maximum three to four months.

If your life circumstances limit you from being able to meet on a regular basis to complete the training and assessment requirements, you may need to consider if now is the right time in your life to be considering a role as a  foster carer.

We understand that sometimes things happen in your life that are outside of your control and may lead to you having to pause your application. Depending on the length of time your application is on hold, we will work with you to minimise the disruption where this is possible.