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

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TASMANIAShared Stories, Shared Lives training program butare encouraged to attend specific sessions or othertraining programs relevant to them. The policyposition in relation to kinship care placementsrecognises that kinship carers have similar butdifferent needs to foster carers especially inrelation to training and skills development.Foster carers are assessed via Step by Step acompetency based model for assessing potentialfoster carers. The format for assessing kinshipcarers has been adapted from Step by Step.Financial supportFoster carers and formal kinship carers arereimbursed for costs associated with caring fora child placed by the Department. The level ofreimbursement varies in accordance to the age ofthe child. The payment, known as the standardreimbursement, is paid into the carer’s bankaccount on a fortnightly basis. The standardreimbursement covers the day to day child relatedcosts including energy, food, clothing and footwear,household goods and services, health, education,transport, leisure and personal care.Foster and kinship carers also receive an additionalweekly payment (paid on a fortnightly basis) ifthe child is under a short term care order. Carersalso receive an additional payment to purchase aChristmas and birthday present for the child if thechild is in care at these times.Additional costs because the child has additionalneeds such as extra health needs are met throughFoster Carers Association of Tasmania Inc.OfficePhoneEmailWebsiteRoom 3, Ground Floor, McDougall BuildingEllerslie Road Battery Point Hobart 70010437 006 876 (including after hours assistance and support)ksa2@bigpond.comwww.dhhs.tas.gov.au/agency/partnerships/fostercarers.phpAfter hours assistance and supportAfter hours assistance and support can be obtained by phoning 0437 006 876.Services provided:additional payments to carers as well as paymentson behalf of the child. Additional payments mustbe approved through the child’s care plan.Other supportsFoster and kinship carers have a child protectionworker attached to out-of-home care teams ineach region. These workers provide trainingopportunities and activities for carers. Theyare also able to provide advocacy, support andresources such as written information on managingspecific behaviours. Children and young peopleplaced in out-of-home care have a child protectionworker worker who provides case managementsupport for the child and the carer. Casemanagement support includes referrals to specialistservices such as mental health services andsupport to the carer and the child in relation to thechild’s contact with family members. The FosterCarer Association of Tasmania Inc. is also availableto support carers.There are a range of services that may be involvedin supporting a child in foster care. Care planningfor the child is the mechanism for determining whatservices should be involved in supporting the child.The following contacts for Tasmania are generalcontacts for carers rather than a comprehensivelist of services that are available to assist childrenin care. Carers should discuss any concerns theyhave about a child in their care with the child’sworker.• regular newsletters;• meetings;• social activities;• an annual conference;• support during case planing;• support during family conference;• advocacy and support for carers through the Foster Care Advocacy and Support Team (FAST);• telephone support and referral service;• working with Create to gain the maximum input for children and young people in out-of-homecare;• member of the Australian Foster Care Association Inc., providing input on national issues thateffect Tasmanian foster carers.58
Victoria support informationThe Department of Human Services funds 34Community Service Organisations, (including onestate-wide Aboriginal Child Care Agency and fourlocal community based Aboriginal organisations).These organisations recruit, train and supporthome based care givers to care for children andyoung people who are subject to child protectioninvestigation and cannot remain in the care of theirparents.Increasingly, children and young people are placedin kinship care with either relatives or peopleknown to them. These placements are approvedand supervised mainly by the Department ofHuman Services child protection services. Wherethe Court makes a decision that a child cannot livewith their birth parents in the longer term, the childmay be placed with permanent care parents.At any one time, there are approximately 1,800children and young people in temporary fostercare placements in Victoria, not including childrenand young people living with kinship or permanentcarers.Types of home based care programsChildren and young people requiring home basedcare placement have a range of needs, whichrequire different levels of intensity of care. InVictoria, the types of home based care are:General home based careFor children and young people aged up to 18 yearswho are unable to live with their families of origin,either in the short term or long term.Intensive home based careIntensive home based care incorporates‘specialised’ home based care or ‘innovative’ homebased care and ‘shared’ family care.Specialised home based care and innovative homebased care is for children and young people whereprevious, less intensive, placements have beeninappropriate or unsuccessful because of the child’sor young person’s behaviour, additional needs, orhigh demands associated with co-placing largesibling groups.Shared family care is for children and youngpeople with a developmental delay 0 to six years),or an intellectual disability (six to 18 years). Acommunity service organisation worker providessupport and helps people to access specialistservices and other local community resources.There is also a special fund to meet exceptionalcosts related to disability needs.Adolescent Community Placement programFor young people aged 12 to 18 years who areexperiencing crisis and are unable to live with theirfamilies for a range of reasons. The program helpsyoung people to access a temporary, but safe andsecure, home with a volunteer placement providerin their local area.Complex home based careFor very high needs young people who needan individualised home based care option withintensive support and supervision. Care giversare reimbursed and supported according to the59Department support and informationOffice for Children, Department of HumanServices (DHS)50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000Phone 1300 650 172TTY 1800 008 149Email OfficeForChildren@dhs.vic.gov.auWebsite www.office-for-children.vic.gov.auChild safety supportOffice of the Child Safety CommissionerLevel 20, 570 Bourke Street,Melbourne, Victoria 3000Phone 03 8601 5884 or 1300 782 978Email childsafe@ocsc.vic.gov.auWebsite www.ocsc.vic.gov.auPeak body community serviceorganisationsCentre for Excellence in Child and FamilyWelfareLevel 5, 50 Market Street,Melbourne VIC 3000Phone 03 9614 1577Website www.cwav.asn.auThe Centre operates the Foster Care Hotline1800 013 088 for enquiries about becoming afoster carer in VictoriaRecruitmentFor information on becoming a foster carer,contact the Foster Care Hotline.Phone 1800 013 088 (freecall)website www.cwav.asn.au/foster/index.htmlChildren and young people supportCREATE Foundation — Vic. BranchLevel 5, 50 Market Street, Melbourne VIC 3000Phone 1800 655 105Website www.create.org.auCounselling supportGrandparents VictoriaA state-wide community organisation thatprovides advocacy and support for grandparentsPhone 03 9372 2422Email director@grandparents.com.auWebsite www.grandparents.com.auThe Mirabel FoundationProvides support and information to carers andchildren whose parents are unable to care forthem because of incapacity or death due to illicitdrug usePhone 03 9527 9422Website www.mirabelfoundation.comParentlineProvides counselling, information, supportand referral regarding child development andparenting strategiesPhone 13 2289VICTORIA
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 and 42: MatthewMatthew, young person in car
Page 43 and 44: Transition to Independent Living Al
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: Tasmania 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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