Supporting children and their carers
Our Fostering Young Lives program provides foster care placements across Sydney for children and young people from birth to 18 years of age.
We put the child at the centre of our service and offer ongoing and coordinated support services to best meet the needs of children and their carers.Our professional, qualified staff provide evidence based training for carers so they feel supported in the work they are doing.
We also provide carers with regular visits from a Case Manager, 24/7 on call support, a tax free allowance to assist with the costs of raising a child and ongoing training opportunities.
Fostering Young Lives is seeking foster carers across Sydney who can provide safe and nurturing homes for children and young people who cannot live with their own family right now.
Types of Foster Care
Children and young people can require care for differing lengths of times. Foster carers can look after children and young people for few nights, a few weeks, months or until a child reaches adulthood and beyond.
Immediate or crisis care
- A few nights up to a few months until a child can return home or until a more suitable placement is identified. These placements are usually required at short notice.
Short to medium-term care
- From a few months up to two years.
- Often the focus is on providing a home for a child while their parents receive support to resolve issues. Some kids will return home or move in with extended family and others may need long term care.
Long-term care
- If the child cannot return to live with their family they receive long term care until they turn 18 and often beyond.
Respite care
- Respite care is for short, usually pre planned periods of time.
- Respite carers might care for a child one weekend a month or for a few weeks during school holidays.
- Respite carers offer a child the opportunity to develop additional positive relationships.
The most important thing we look for in carers is a desire to help children and young people develop and reach their full potential.
Who can be a foster carer?
Foster carers come from all walks of life and can:
- Be single or have a partner
- Be of any sexual orientation
- Be from any culture or religion
- Have children of their own or not
- Own or rent their home
- Be employed, not working, studying or retired
We welcome foster carers from all backgrounds and cultures that meet this criteria:
- Must be over 21 years of age
- Have a spare bedroom
- If you have your own children they need to be at least 3 years old
- Have the time and willingness to commit
- Be healthy
- Be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident
- Have the finances to meet a child’s current and future needs
- Willing to undergo background checks
Challenges and rewards of being a foster carer
Fostering might not always be easy, but it is incredibly rewarding for both carers and the children they support.
As a foster carer, you help the child overcome difficulties from their past and adjust to living with a new family. You also support the child to maintain a relationship with their family and remain connected to their culture.
A carer will need to have the time, empathy, patience and resilience to care for a child who has had a difficult past.
Carers are part of a team providing care for a child or young person. All carers receive training and support to fulfil their role and meet the needs of children in care. Experienced carers say the rewards outweigh the challenges.
“There is nothing better than
looking back at where the
child started from when they
first walked in your front door
to where they are now”
- Justine, Fostering Young Lives Carer
What support do carers recieve?
Our foster carers are never alone in their caring journey.
It is important that carers feel supported, equipped and encouraged in their critical role of caring for children.
Support will include:
Regular home visits and meetings with your case manager
All foster carers have a case manager available to them to provide advice and practical support.
Financial support
Foster carers receive a fortnightly allowance to reimburse some of the day-today costs incurred when caring for a child or young person. The allowance is based on the age and needs of the child and is tax-free. The payments do not affect your eligibility for any other government allowances that you are entitled to. If a child is assessed as having extra needs, then the amount of the carer allowance increases accordingly.
24/7 on-call support
Our foster carers have access to on-call support at any time of the day or night for advice, support and direction in stressful situations.
Professional support in dealing with any behavioural, physical and emotional difficulties the child may be experiencing.
Training
All foster carers will also have access to specialised support, services and training offered by My Forever Family NSW.
Specialist support
For children and carers who need additional support, your case manager can refer you to professionals such as psychologists, pediatricians and speech pathologists.
Free and confidential counselling for you and your family
Carers and their immediate family have access to the TBS employee assistance program. This gives you access to confidential counselling with qualified and experienced clinicians who can help you manage any challenging or stressful situations you may encounter as part of your role. You can also utilise this service to support you with any personal, family or work issues are impacting on your wellbeing. You can access counselling over the phone or face to face.
Steps to become a foster carer
Our dedicated staff will be there to guide you through the process of becoming a carer.
The exact amount of time it takes to become a carer may vary depending on individual factors and situations.
Our diagram below shows the steps and how long the whole process is estimated to take. In total there are 8 steps, and an estimated time of 6 months to become a carer from first enquiry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I meet the child’s family?
So long as it is safe, it is likely you will facilitate contact with birth family and significant others for a child or young person in your care. In most cases, your case manager will develop a relationship with the biological family before you have any contact with the family and you will be provided with support and guidance along the way.
Will the child’s family know where I live?
In most cases, the law says that information about the child or children’s placement must be given (‘disclosed’) to their parents and to other people who are important to the child or children. This is because giving out this information helps the child or young people stay in contact with the people who are important to them. The safety of your family and any children placed with you will always come first when considering what information can be disclosed. Your consent will always be requested in writing before your personal information is disclosed and you can request a review of the decision.
Can a child or young person go back to their family?
Children and Young People are normally placed in short term placements during court proceedings. At this time their family has the opportunity to engage with Community Services and the Courts to demonstrate that they are able to provide a safe environment for the child or young person. It is important to note, a child’s parents or significant persons may apply to the Court for a change of circumstances at any point (except where a child has been adopted). The Court takes the child or young person’s current attachment and relationship with his or her carers into consideration when making a decision about who a child should live with. The Court’s decision is made in the best
interest of the child.
Do we get to pick the school for the child or young person?
If a child is staying with you for a short period they will usually remain at their own school so they continue to have contact with familiar people and places. If it's a long term placement then schooling options for the child would be discussed in partnership with the child's case manager.
Can we travel with a child or young person in our care?
Travel can be a great experience for children and young people! You can travel within NSW if it doesn’t interfere with the child’s schooling or planned family contact.
If you are travelling interstate you will need permission. Overseas travel with a child is possible with a little bit of forward planning. The child or young person
in your care will need consent to travel and will require a passport. Your Case Manager will apply for a passport on behalf of the child and in some cases, the consent of the child’s birth parents will also be sought before applying for a passport. To avoid delays and disappointment, let your Case Manager know well in advance if you’re planning to travel overseas.
I work full time. Can the child attend day care or before and after school care?
For pre-school age children, carers need to be available two full days out of every usual five day working week to ensure they are able to attend appointments as required, and to develop a positive attachment with the child in their care. A child should only be in formal childcare for a maximum of three days a week. School age children can be in before/after school care for a maximum of 10 hours a week. They can be in either before OR after school care, but not both on one day in order to minimise the number of transitions they need to make each day.
What if the placement isn’t working?
We know that being a carer can be challenging, which is why we provide a number of supports and services to ensure Carers and children are supported throughout the placement to work through issues as they arise. Additional specialist support services are available when required. Children in foster care who move from one home to another face additional difficulties which can make it hard for them to concentrate on school, build friendships and family relationships, heal from trauma, and feel
secure and loved. For this reason we ask Carers to do their very best to make a placement work. We recognise that occasionally placements may not be viable or safe for carers/and or the child. In these cases we encourage carers to be transparent with their Case Manager to ensure the agency are able to initiate
appropriate next steps.
What is the NSW Carers Register?
The NSW Carers Register is a centralised database of persons (and their household members) who are applying to be foster carers or who are existing authorised foster carers. The aim of the register is to promote the safety, welfare and wellbeing of all children and young people in out of home care. All designated agencies in
NSW must use the register to share information about carers and prospective carers. The register will let agencies know if someone has previously been an authorised Carer or has applied to be a Carer with another agency. Further information about the NSW Carers Register is available via the Office of the Children’s Guardian website.
Will the child have access to Medicare?
Yes, children and young people under 18 years of age who are in out of home care are entitled to Medicare benefits. They are also entitled to Child Dental Benefits if they are aged between 2 and 17 years of age. The agency will consider requests for additional financial support in situations whereby a child or young person requires essential additional medical or dental treatment that is not covered by Medicare benefits.