Supporting Carers Of Other People's Children - Australian Foster ...

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Transition to Independent Living AllowanceThe Transition to Independent Living Allowance(TILA), in conjunction with other supportmeasures, is one-off support up to the valueof $1,000, designed to assist young peoplewho are leaving or have left care, in order tomeet some of the costs involved in moving toindependent living.Transition to Independent Living Allowance canbe applied in a number of ways to best meet theneeds of a young person leaving care, includingmaking a contribution to the costs involved instarting employment, education or establishinga home. However, Transition to IndependentLiving Allowance can not be used to replaceexisting assistance schemes or services.Please note that Transition to IndependentLiving Allowance is not a cash payment.Who is eligible?To qualify for Transition to Independent LivingAllowance, the young person leaving your careneeds to be:• a permanent Australian resident, and• aged between 15 and 25 years, and• approaching or experiencing their transition toindependent living, and• at risk of an unsuccessful transition toindependent living.They must also:• have been in, or currently be in formal and/orinformal care, and• have not received Transition to IndependentLiving Allowance before.Important: A young person can only accessthe Transition to Independent Living Allowanceonce.What is formal care?To be considered to have been in, or to becurrently in, formal care a young person seekingthis allowance must:• be the subject of a care and protection orderthat places them in the care and custody ofsomeone who isn’t their parent, or• have been the subject of a care and protectionorder that placed them in the care andcustody of someone who wasn’t their parent,and their order has ceased or expired becauseof their age.What is informal care?To be considered to have been in, or to becurrently in, informal care they must:• have ‘Independent Status’ for Centrelinkpayments because they cannot live with theirparents; and• currently be in, or have previously been in,informal out-of-home care; and/or• currently be in, or have previously been in,Indigenous kinship care.How to apply for the Transition toIndependent Living Allowance• The young person and the communityorganisation need to fill in a referralassessment form, which outlines whattransition support the young person needs.The form is available from the FaCSIA websiteor from any of the administering organisations(see list on next page).• The completed form is sent to anadministering organisation which thenprocesses the form.• The administering organisation provides theTransition to Independent Living Allowancefunds to the young person’s communityorganisation or directly to the supplier of thegoods and/or services.To obtain a Transition to Independent Living Allowancereferral assessment form:• contact one of the administering organisations listed onthe next page, or• contact the Australian Government Department ofFamilies, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs(FaCSIA):— write to FaCSIA at PO Box 7788, Canberra MailCentre, ACT 2610— phone 1300 653 227, or— visit the website www.facsia.gov.au and follow thelinks to ‘Youth’ and ‘Transition to Independent LivingAllowance’.More information may also be available from your stateor territory community services or welfare department,from the foster care association or from the communityorganisation that is already helping the young person tomake plans to leave care.42
Transition to Independent Living Allowanceadministering organisationsPlease address your enquiries to the Transition to Independent Living AllowanceContact Officer in any of the following administering organisationsAustralian Capital Territory (ACT)• The Richmond Fellowship of the ACT Inc.Phone 02 6248 6118Fax 02 6247 7691Email wilf@rfact.org.auNew South Wales (NSW)• Biripi Aboriginal Corporation Medical Centre(Marungbai)Phone 02 6551 3973Fax 02 6551 2060Email marungbai@tsn.ccCentacare (Newcastle)Phone 02 4903 3000Fax 02 4961 2224Email jo.bronwyn@mn.catholic.org.au• Centacare (Sydney)Manager: Ms Bronwyn ParkerPhone 02 9793 7522Fax 02 9790 8421Email alive@centacare.org• Clarence Valley Community Programs Inc.Phone 02 6642 7257Fax 02 6643 2203Email nsecomb@communityprograms.org.au• Relationships Australia (NSW) - AftercareResource CentrePhone 02 9890 3899Fax 02 9890 1170Email arc@ransw.org.au• UnitingCare BurnsidePhone 02 4455 7016Fax 02 4455 6907Email schapman@burnside.org.au• UnitingCare Burnside (Western NSW)Phone 02 6884 5254Fax 02 6885 1399Email lizprice@burnside.org.auNorthern Territory (NT)• Centacare (NT)Phone 08 8944 2000Fax 08 8944 2099Email fmillar@centacare-nt.org.auQueensland (QLD)• Salvation Army QLDPhone 07 3854 1245Fax 07 3854 1552Email yosbrisbane@aue.salvationarmy.org(Attn: TILA Contact Officer)South Australia (SA)• Baptist Community ServicesPhone 08 8277 8088Fax 08 8277 9318Email itownsend@sabaptist.asn.au• Lutheran Community CarePhone 08 8723 2869Fax 08 8723 2854Email bkanahs@lccsa.org.au• Service to Youth CouncilPhone 08 8413 8150Fax 08 8212 2180Email ycolgan@syc.net.auTasmania (TAS)• Anglicare (Tasmania)Phone 03 6234 3510Fax 03 6234 8457Email g.hitchens@anglicare-tas.org.au• Glenhaven Family Care Inc.Phone 03 6421 7793Fax 03 6421 7794Email gfcmanager@southcom.com.auVictoria (VIC)• Salvation Army (West Care)Enquiries can be directed toPhone 03 8311 5047 (recorded information)or via Email to tila@aus.salvationarmy.orgApplications can be lodged byFax 03 9312 1131 or by posting toPO Box 225, Sunshine VIC 3020Western Australia (WA)• Mission Australia (Bunbury)Phone 08 9721 1122Fax 08 9721 1133Email cooka@missionaustralia.com.au• Salvation Army (Crossroads West)Phone 08 9328 1600Fax 08 9328 1655Email sylvia.mollasi@aus.salvationarmy.org• Wanslea Family ServicesPhone 08 9581 5843Fax 08 9535 3163Email peel@wanslea.asn.auNote:1. If a young person has left care and is not receiving support from a community organisation, theymay still be eligible for a Transition to Independent Living Allowance payment. They should applydirect to FACSIA at GPO Box 7788, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610 or approach their previouscarer or agency.2. TILA administering organisations may change from time to time. If the organisation you makean inquiry of is no longer providing this service, please inquire of them who is the local serviceprovider, or phone 1300 653 227 or visit the TILA website at www.facsia.gov.au and follow thelinks to ‘Youth’ and ‘Transition to Independent Living Allowance’.43
Page 1 and 2: Australian Foster CareAssociation I
Page 3 and 4: ContentsPreface 5Roles of the Austr
Page 5 and 6: Message from the MinisterChildren a
Page 7 and 8: Australian Government payments anda
Page 9 and 10: Carer AllowanceCarer PaymentCarer P
Page 11 and 12: Initial exemptions are for up to 12
Page 13 and 14: Documents that Centrelink in each s
Page 15 and 16: Laurel,LaurelJennie’s MumNone of
Page 17 and 18: Child SupportSchemeThe Australian G
Page 19 and 20: Defining featuresof Australian fost
Page 21 and 22: • the relevant court orders, if a
Page 23 and 24: Caring forIndigenous kidsMore foste
Page 25 and 26: Elizabethzabeth, veteran carer of b
Page 27 and 28: Organising foster children’s pass
Page 29 and 30: Accessing Legal AidPeople seeking l
Page 31 and 32: ClaireClaire, former child in careI
Page 33 and 34: Foster children and Medicare cardsT
Page 35 and 36: threshold of $500 in a calendar yea
Page 37 and 38: The importance of maintaining links
Page 39 and 40: ABSTUDYABSTUDY is available to Abor
Page 41: MatthewMatthew, young person in car
Page 45 and 46: Rapp Care Song - Kerry KempWhat doe
Page 47 and 48: • Galilee Family Placement Scheme
Page 49 and 50: Ongoing support for foster carersSp
Page 51 and 52: RecruitmentFACS always welcomes cal
Page 53 and 54: Following their initial approval as
Page 55 and 56: throughout the year. Training usual
Page 57 and 58: Tasmania support informationThe Dep
Page 59 and 60: Victoria support informationThe Dep
Page 61 and 62: egional approval panel approves car
Page 63 and 64: progressing a qualification for fos
Page 65 and 66: IndexAAboriginal and Torres Strait
Page 67 and 68: FeedbackThis publication is the fir

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