Foster Care Victoria

This blog is becoming “Life Matters Watch” but I would like to begin by commending their coverage of the foster care issue over the past weeks/months.

This morning Joe Tucci of the Australian Childhood Foundation (you may remember his name from the Mandatory Reporting of Abuse debate we discussed a few weeks a ago) and Kate Cairns were the guests talking about Therapeutic foster care or “advanced” foster care as it was called on the program.

I’ve had quite a bit to do with AChFover the past few months and have found their knowledge not only interesting but a valuable resource for foster carers. I also know many of the carers who have done the Circle training in particular run by AChf and who are involved with the Circle program and all the reports I have heard have been fantastic. Carers say that the access to professional advice and supports, as well as the neurological understanding of trauma as explained in the training all combined to help their ability to care for children. But one of the most important aspects of this particular program has been the elevation of the status of the carer to where carers are included in discussion and consulted about their knowledge of the child to work towards more complete care plans. This process has been referred to the professionalisation of foster care.

While these are all wonderful things, Sarah McDonald’s initial questions really went to the heart of the issue: Can we expect this of carers; that is, 24 hour, 7 day a week volunteers given only modest reimbursements? Its a huge job these amazing families are undertaking and we desperately need more to do the same. Victoria is leading the way with programs, hopefully Victoria can also lead Australia towards greater recognition of carers through funding and other crucial supports. Recognition and respect throughout our community of foster care as a valid and important role is key to getting more people involved, and in encouraging carers to continue.

As an aside for current carers in Melbourne’s East, AChF is running training again in June. Contact your caseworker or the Recruitment team in Bayswater if you would like more details.

This invitation was published on Maroondah Leader’s Website.

Much discussion has occurred lately in the media surrounding the challenges faced by parents raising children in the electronic age – ‘An Evening with Andrew Fuller’ to be held on Thursday 17 April at Tintern Girls Grammar promises to delivery many of the answers.

During the course of the evening Andrew, Clinical Psychologist and Family Therapist, explores parenting strategies for raising real people and embracing the new ‘click and go’ generation. While Andrew is a Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Learning and Educational Development at the University of Melbourne, he offers parents realistic and down-to-earth solutions for the challenges that our children face.

The evening is open to anyone interested in raising confident and happy children and commences at 7pm in the CM Wood Centre, Tintern Girls Grammar, 90 Alexandra Road, Ringwood East.

This report is very interesting reading for anyone curious about the kinds of people who foster (demographics etc.), the most popular and most difficult ages of children to place and the intensions of foster carers into the future.

I’ve received it with mixed feelings, a lot of it I was pretty aware of, but as time goes on and each report is released, the number of carers closing in on their well earned retirement looms large, with most of our carers being 50-54 and many having fosteredt for over 10 years.    

Anglicare Victoria are holding a foster care information session in Melbourne’s outer-east during Youth Week.

If you’ve ever thought about fostering, volunteering to help a child or young person in need, or just want to make a difference, then this is for you.

 Anglicare provides foster care and support for children and young people aged 0-18, an Adolescent Community Placement (ACP) program for young people aged 13-17, and several specific programs for children and young people with a disability or high needs.

Information Session- Lilydale

Date:  Monday April 7th

Time: 7:30-8:30pm

Venue:   Anglicare Victoria Yarra Ranges, 47-51 Castella St, Lilydale, VIC

Wherever you live in Victoria, and whatever kind of fostering interests you, this page hosted by the Foster Care Association of Victoria covers all bases.

Statistics are one thing, but hearing individual stories of children needing foster care is quite another. Jake (11)and his brother Kevin (15) are currently living in Children’s Residential Care, and would greatly benefit from moving into full-time foster care, either together or separately.  

Jake goes to school in the Yarra Ranges and enjoys riding his BMX, swimming and camping. Kevin, who goes to school in Manningham likes playing basketball and listening to music. Kevin also has epilepsy and an intellectual disability.  

They’ve both experienced a lot of trauma but they’re learning to control their behaviour, changes which are expected continue to improve once they have both settled into positive environments with strong role models.   

These boys will need support not only from full-time carers, but also respite carers one weekend a month, and other volunteers to support them through mentorship in order for foster care really work for them.  

Suitable carers for Jake and Kevin are being actively searched for in these communities, so if you live in Melbourne’s Eastern Region and could offer any of these types of support to Jake or Kevin, or would like to find out more email fostercare.eastern@anglicarevic.org.au. 

Anglicare Victoria are holding two foster care information sessions in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs over the coming weeks.

If you’ve ever thought about fostering, volunteering to help a child or young person in need, or just want to make a difference, then this is for you.

 Anglicare provides foster care and support for children and young people aged 0-18, an Adolescent Community Placement (ACP) program for young people aged 13-17, and several specific programs for children and young people with a disability or high needs.

Information Session #1 - Vermont South

Date:  Thursday 7th February

Time: 7:30-8:30pm

Venue:   Vermont South Library, Pavey Place, Vermont South, VIC

Information Session #2 - Glen Waverley

Date:  Friday 8th February

Time:  7:30-8:30pm

Venue: Kerrie Neighbourhood House, 36 Kincumber Drive, Glen Waverley, VIC

Both sessions are free and all are welcome.  Free information DVDs will be available on the night.  Please call Josh on 1300 889 335 for more details. 

Dr. Bruce Perry was in Melbourne last week, and this article from The Age gives a brief overview of his insights concerning the impact of trauma and neglect on brain development.  I have worked in the area supporting carers and children for over ten years now, and I can say without a moment of doubt that the most insightful and useful information I have learned in that time has come from Dr. Bruce Perry.  If you are a carer and have not come across his work before, I strongly recommend getting hold of some of his articles or books.  Ask your foster care agency to order them!

This article referencing Dr Alisdair Vance from the Royal Children’s Hospital confirms the close relationship between biology and capacity to cope with stress.  Studies have found that children with ADHD showed different responses in the parietal lobes to their non-hyperactive peers when performing memory tasks.  

I have just heard about this two-day workshop coming up in December, entitled  ‘Children in Trauma, Trauma in Children’.  The workshop will be presented by trauma specialist Dr Bruce Perry, senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy .  The workshop will be hosted jointly by Berry Street Victoria, Take Two and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.  Bruce Perry has contributed significantly to understanding how children are effected by trauma, and in particular, the impact of trauma on brain development.  This workshop is for carers, workers, and therapists.  I strongly recommend attending if you can, as Bruce Perry’s teaching is both enlightening and hopeful.   The workshop venue is ‘The Centre Ivanhoe’ and each day will run from 9.30pm to 4.00pm.  I don’t have the exact date or costs, but you can contact Amanda Kevin-Tidis on 9429 9266 or akevintidis@berrystreet.org.au for more information.>