Are you interested in
foster caring?
It’s not just the child’s life that changes
What is foster care?
Why do some children need foster care?
When families are troubled and children cannot live safely
at home, they come into the care of the Department for
Child Protection.
A child’s parent might be unable to care for them because
of illness, drug or alcohol problems, domestic violence or
imprisonment.
Wherever possible, we place these children with relatives
or someone close.
Sometimes children have been neglected or hurt by a
parent and need to be protected.
When this isn’t possible, we consider fostering.
Foster care provides a caring home while the parent and
family members get help. If possible, the child will then
return to live with their family when they are able to be
cared for properly.
Foster care is an arrangement where a family or an
individual cares for other people’s children in their own
home. The child could be a baby, at school, or a young
person.
Foster carers are volunteers who are able to include these
children in their own home and family.
There are different types of fostering, depending on
the age of the child, and if they have problems such as
behavioural difficulties or a disability.
The children generally keep in touch with members of their
birth family. Foster carers help children keep in contact with
people and places that are important to them.
Types of foster care
Some children will need care for just a few days, others
for a few weeks or even years. We don’t always know how
long a child will need care.
That’s why we have several types of care:
• Emergency Care – up to 28 days
• Respite Care – weekends and school holidays
• Short-term – up to six months
• Long-term – over one year
• Home for Life Program - permanent foster placement
until the child turns 18 years.
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Could I be a foster carer?
Foster carers are everyday people who like helping others, especially children.
Foster carers can be male or female, single or a couple, with or without children and work full time or part time or even be
retired.
What’s important is your maturity, health and lifestyle.
What do we expect from you?
You need to be able to provide a safe, supportive home for a child who may be troubled or traumatised.
You also need to be prepared to attend training to learn new skills, and to keep information about the foster child
confidential, even from close friends and family.
We are looking for people who are prepared to work closely with the Department and the child’s family to plan and
maintain the best care for the child.
Foster carers are also expected to:
• provide emotional support and care to meet the child’s everyday needs
• help the child communicate and behave in positive ways
• support the child in their schooling and recreational activities
• help the child maintain contact with their parents and extended family
• support the child’s cultural and religious needs.
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Becoming a foster carer
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Step 1
Study the information pack
Step 2
Attend an information session
Step 3
Expression of interest
Step 4
Home visit
Step 5
Application and screening
Step 6
Assessment
Step 7
Training
Step 8
Approval
The information pack contains basic information about being a foster carer.
After you have read the material and you want to find out more, you should attend an information session.
If you are unsure if you would be suitable or eligible as a foster carer, call Fostering and Adoption Services on 1800 182 178.
At the session you’ll meet an experienced foster carer and staff from the Department for Child Protection. You’ll have the chance to ask
questions, and find out about different types of fostering and the fostering agencies (there’s some information about these later in this
booklet).
Find out when the next metropolitan session is at www.childprotection.wa.gov.au or call 1800 182 178.
If you live in the country, contact Fostering and Adoption Services 1800 182 178 for information.
Once you and your family have decided to take the next step, complete an Expression of Interest form and return it to Fostering and
Adoption Services.
After you have sent in your Expression of Interest form, a Fostering and Adoption Services worker will call you to make a time to meet
you and your family at home. This is a chance for us to learn more about you and have a look at your home. For you it’s an opportunity
to hear more about fostering. If you live in the country a Fostering and Adoption Services worker will phone you and talk further. If you still
want to go ahead, the worker will leave you an application form. (If you live in the country an application form will be posted to you.)
Fill in the Application Form and send it to Fostering and Adoption Services. The form asks for background details of you and your family.
Part of your application includes giving us permission to carry out police and Department checks, contact referees, and get a health report
from your doctor. Foster carers also need a Working with Children Card; you’ll be asked to apply for this later in the assessment process.
If you have completed an adoption/fostering assessment, we will need permission from you to release your assessment report, which will
be used to provide evidence required for the assessment.
The assessment starts after we have received some of the screening information. We will visit you and your family several times in your
home.
You will decide, with your assessor, what type of foster care you wish to do, and what age and sex of child would fit best with your lifestyle.
We will assess your readiness to become a foster carer and your ability to:
• work as part of a team
• respond to a foster child’s emotional, educational, psychological and physical needs
• provide a safe home, free of abuse
• take the responsibility to learn and develop as a carer.
Before being registered as a carer, you will need to attend 19 hours of preparation training over four evenings and a Saturday (country
areas have different arrangements).
At these sessions you will learn about why children enter care and the issues that they experience, as well as the roles and responsibilities
of both yourself and the Department.
Your assessor will submit a report to the Foster Care Assessment Panel, who, in turn, will make a recommendation to the Department
about whether or not you should be a foster carer.
If you are approved you will get a letter and be asked to sign an agreement with the Department.
This whole process can take about six months. It might seem a long time and a bit intrusive, but we need all this information to make sure
that you are suitable, safe and able to look after other people’s children.
If you are not approved, there are still ways you can help. You may be able to assist with foster care camps, or volunteer in other ways. To
find out more, either call Fostering and Adoption Services or contact Volunteering WA (www.volunteeringwa.org.au or 1800 678 114).
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What happens once I’m a registered foster carer?
• A Senior Officer Care Services from your local district will support you and place a foster
child with you.
• Foster children have their own case worker who supports them and their family. The
child’s case worker will also work closely with you.
Foster Care Partnership Policy
Learning and Development
The Foster Care Partnership Policy aims to:
Fostering and Adoption Services will regularly send you
a calendar of learning and development workshops on a
range of topics such as first aid, child development and
coping with children leaving care, as well as social events.
• Acknowledge the central role of foster carers in
providing a nurturing family environment for children
in care.
• Emphasise the role of the Department for Child
Protection care team to support carers in their role
of providing child support to create more stable and
successful placements.
• Engage foster carers in decision making regarding
case management as well as to incorporate foster
carer views into departmental policy and services.
(Country areas have different workshop arrangements.)
Support
There are regular foster carer coffee mornings and other
social events where you can meet other foster carers in
your area.
All foster carers can get respite care (breaks) both in
emergencies and on a planned and regular basis.
Foster carers get a tax-free subsidy towards the cost of
looking after a foster child.
You can get help any time by calling the Crisis Care
helpline on (08) 9223 1111 or 1800 199 008
(free call).
Foster carers and their families have access to a free,
confidential counselling service.
There are also clinical psychologists, therapists and
teachers available to help you.
Foster Care Association
The Foster Care Association of WA represents and
supports all foster carers.
It is an excellent source of support and information for
foster carers, funded by the Department.
Contact the Association at www.fcawa.com.au or on
(08) 9384 5577 or 1800 641 911 (free call).
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Everyday Issues
Confidentiality
Schooling
For their privacy and to retain a sense of normality in their
lives, you may not always be able to share information
about the child in your care with your family or friends.
You may also have to ask your own children not to tell
that their new housemates are foster children.
We try and keep children in their local area to continue
contact with familiar people and places.
For your privacy, we don’t normally give your address
to the child’s family unless it’s appropriate and you have
given your permission.
Generally they will attend public schools to maintain
consistent education, as in many cases they will return
home and to their previous school.
If the child is staying for a short period they’ll usually
remain at their own school. If it’s a long-term placement,
then they’ll attend a school in your area.
Financial Assistance
Foster carers get a fortnightly subsidy towards the cost
of looking after a foster child. You also get additional
payments for clothing, school, medical, and recreational
expenses. The amount depends on the age and needs of
the child.
You can find out the current rates at
www.childprotection.wa.gov.au.
The subsidy is tax-free – you don’t have to declare it
as income.
You can also receive Family Allowance for foster children
– you’ll need to discuss the length of placement with the
case worker and meet Centrelink criteria.
Healthcare
If your foster child is sick, you should take them to a
doctor as with any child. You may need Department
permission for some dental and medical treatments.
The Department pays any medical expenses.
Holidays
Holidays may be an experience that some children in care
have not had. Foster carers should discuss arrangements
with the Department before they take a child away.
You will have to get special permission to take a child
interstate or overseas.
If you need a regular or occasional break (or in an
emergency), we also have a respite care service where
the child can stay with another person or attend a
residential camp.
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Department for Child Protection Foster Care Programs
By law, the Department must care and protect those children and young people who are
unable to be cared for by their families.
The Department is the coordination point for all children who need to be placed with foster
carers in Western Australia.
General Foster Care
Respite Program
Phone: 1800 182 178
Email: [email protected]
(Metropolitan service only)
The Department for Child Protection provides care for
children from birth to 18 years, for emergency, respite,
short, medium and long-term care.
The Department’s Fostering and Adoption Services
recruits, assesses and trains prospective foster carers
across the State. They ensure that carers are provided
with support, and that children in care are given a safe
and good quality home.
Once you are approved as a foster carer, you will be
supported by your local Department office. They will
match children to you, and arrange for ongoing support
for the child, as well as for you and your family.
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Phone: 1800 182 178
Email: [email protected]
Respite carers look after children for short periods of
time to give their full-time carers a break. This provides
a chance for foster carers to recharge, respond to other
family needs and maintain their general well being.
Respite carers look after children in their own home. The
length of care is decided before placement and can vary
from one day to a few weeks.
Respite care is most effective if it is planned and regular,
however respite care can be in response to emergency
situations e.g. sudden illnesses.
Pre-Adoptive Foster Care
Home 4 Life
(Metropolitan service only)
Phone: 1800 182 178 or (08) 9286 5200
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1800 182 178
Email: [email protected]
These foster carers mainly care for newborn babies while
the birth parents are considering long-term care options
for their child. This may include caring for the child
themselves, extended family care or adoption.
The period of care can range from a few days to several
months, and occasionally up to two years.
Carers need to have had experience caring for a
newborn baby, and the main caregiver cannot be in paid
employment.
Home 4 Life carers provide a child with a permanent,
caring home - for life; otherwise known as permanent
foster care.
The Home 4 Life team provides assistance with:
• the preparation of a child’s placement
• carer learning and development
• matching children with foster families
• the child’s transition to a ‘home for life’ with ongoing
support until the placement is stabilised.
You will also have to be flexible about contact visits,
which are usually at your home (by appointment), and
may include extended birth family. You’ll also be involved
in a transition plan when the baby is due to move to the
adoptive parents. This transition period can often be very
time consuming, lasting three weeks or more depending
on the age of the baby.
You also need to be comfortable in interacting with
parents of various cultural backgrounds.
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Non-Government Agencies
If you would like to foster through a non-government agency you should contact them
directly. You are very welcome to attend a Department information session (see page 5)
even if you wish to foster with one of these agencies.
You will need to go through the same kind of assessment process with the agency as with
the Department for Child Protection.
Anglicare WA
Life Without Barriers
23 Adelaide Terrace
East Perth WA 6004
38 Pearse Street
North Fremantle WA 6159
Phone: (08) 9325 7033
Fax: (08) 9325 6969
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.anglicarewa.org.au
Phone: (08) 9432 6700
Fax: (08) 9430 8610
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.lwb.org.au
Anglicare WA’s Teenshare is a 24 hour, seven day a
week service, providing emergency short-term care to
young people aged 12 to 17 years throughout the Perth
metropolitan area.
Life Without Barriers is a national, not-for-profit
community services organisation that provides over
1200 placements for children aged one to 18 years
throughout Australia, including placements for children
with disabilities, mental health issues and/or living in crisis.
Uniting Care West
16 Sunbury Road
Victoria Park WA 6100
Phone: 1300 663 298 (free call)
Fax: 1300 663 528
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.unitingcarewest.org.au
Futures is a service of the Uniting Church which provides
long-term placements to children from birth to 12 years
with disabilities who cannot remain in the care of their
own families throughout the Perth metropolitan area. It
also provides respite care.
Key Assets
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Mercy Family & Community Services
(Metropolitan service only)
18 Barrett Street
Wembley WA 6014
Phone: (08) 9442 3444
Fax: (08) 6380 1409
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mercycare.com.au
Mercy Foster Care, run by the Sisters of Mercy and
the Catholic Church, provides respite and medium to
long-term care (more than six months) in the Perth
metropolitan area for children from birth to 17 years.
(Metropolitan service only)
Parkerville Children & Youth Care Inc
80 Cantonment Street
Fremantle WA 6160
Beacon Road
Parkerville WA 6081
Phone: (08) 9431 9300
Fax: (08) 9430 7725
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.keyassets.com.au
Phone: (08) 9295 4400
Fax: (08) 9295 4099
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.parkerville.org.au
Key Assets is a not-for-profit organisation offering services
throughout Western Australia. Its services meet a wide
range of needs, including those of children from birth to
18 years with complex and complicated histories who
may make considerable demands upon their carers.
Parkerville is an Anglican organisation providing medium
to long-term care for children and young people from
birth to 18 years throughout the Perth metropolitan area.
Wanslea Family Services
Foster Care Association of WA (Inc)
(Metropolitan service only)
Phone: (08) 9384 5577 or 1800 64 1911 (free call)
Fax: (08) 9383 2289
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.fcawa.com.au
110 Scarborough Beach Road
Scarborough WA 6019
Phone: (08) 9245 2441
Fax: (08) 9245 2481
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.wanslea.asn.au
Wanslea is a community based, non-denominational,
non-profit organisation which offers short-term
emergency care for children from birth to 12 years.
Placements vary in length from one or two nights to a few
weeks.
In partnership with Anglicare, Wanslea also provides an
intensive foster care program targeted at children aged
between eight and 12 years with complex needs.
The Foster Care Association is funded by the Department
for Child Protection. It represents and supports foster
carers, offering telephone support, workshops, a loan
scheme for children’s clothing and furniture, newsletters
and the Foster Care Handbook.
Department for Child Protection
Fostering and Adoption Services
Phone: 1800 182 178
Fax: (08) 9385 1920
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.childprotection.wa.gov.au
Yorganop Childcare Aboriginal Corporation
(Metropolitan service only)
1320 Hay Street
West Perth WA 6005
Phone: (08) 9321 9090
Fax: (08) 9321 9019
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.yorganop.org.au
Yorganup is an Aboriginal controlled and managed
agency which aims to preserve the Aboriginal extended
family and prevent family break up where possible.
Extended family members are approached first when
children, from birth to 15 years, need care.
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You won’t always see where they go.
But you can help them get there.
DCP50.0712
Become a foster carer.