Foster care provides safe and supportive homes for children when they are unable to live with their own families. As a foster carer you will become the most important member of a caring team providing support for a child in need. As a foster carer, you may help a child achieve their goals and improve their quality of life now and into the future.
In Victoria, anyone who is at least 21 years of age and can offer a child or young person in need of a secure, caring environment with a spare bedroom is eligible to apply to become a foster carer, including:
Single people and couples
LGBTQIA+ community
Older and retired people
Young people
Homeowners or renters
Students, unemployed people, or those in full-time, part-time, or unpaid work.
Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents (in some cases non-permanent residents can become foster carers for emergency and respite placements) and able to pass relevant background checks.
Each Victorian foster care agency recruits carers directly, using a range of recruitment strategies to raise awareness of their need for foster carers. Victoria's foster care agencies came together as Fostering Connections in early 2016 to make it easier to find out more about becoming a foster carer. For further information, please visit https://www.fosteringconnections.com.au/.
The process for becoming a foster carer generally takes up to six months, and includes around 16 hours of mandatory training, an assessment process conducted by interviews with foster care workers, and completing the relevant checks required by law in order to work with children in the state of Victoria.
Prospective carers must receive satisfactory police checks and are required to obtain a free Working with Children Check which must be renewed every 5 years. All adult members of a carer household undergo a national criminal history check prior to any child being placed in that household. This includes all members of the household who are over 18 years of age, and all persons aged 18 years and older who regularly stay overnight.
All potential home-based carers are required to undergo assessment and attend pre-service training to provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high quality care to the children and young people they look after. Training is provided by the agencies which:
• Is responsible for the approval of people as carers
• Supports and supervises carers when a child is placed in their care
• Provides ongoing training to carers
A common, state-wide, competency-based assessment and pre-service training package known as Shared Stories, Shared Lives is used by all agencies for the training and accreditation of foster carers across Victoria. Sometimes agencies offer joint training for their carers and those from neighbouring agencies to provide more opportunity to run training sessions.
It is essential that prospective carers and their children thoroughly discuss the likelihood of becoming a foster care family. Be open with your children about the likely changes this decision may have on your family. Listen to, and respect, your children’s possible concerns and let your children have time and space to consider the idea. Ask the agency what supports are available for your children and, where age appropriate, your children should be involved in some of the assessment processes.
For further information on becoming a foster carer, go to www.fosteringconnections.com.au or call 1800 013 088
