Foster Care Victoria

Foster care training will be held in Box Hill beginning at the end of May which uses the Shared Stories Shared Lives package. Training is free of charge and is open to anyone who would like to know more about the foster care system, supporting children who have expereinced trauma or who is interested in becoming involved in foster care at any level.

There are information sessions being held over Melbourne’s east about the training or 1300 889 335 is the number to call to inquire about booking.

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.    

There is a growing concern among many Victorian agencies of a need for diversity among the pool of carers. Although there is generally a lower representation of children from CALD backgrounds (Culturally And Linguistically Diverse), where there are issues of language and culture it would be ideal to have a number of carers from a similar background to be involved in fostering that child.

Why? More than for anything else, this is to help the child feel as comfortable as possible, it doesn’t take much imgination to realise that on top of the trauma of being unable to live at home,  dealing with culture shock at such a young age would be extremely frightening.

There’s a strong emphasis and importance on placing Indigenous children with Indigenous carers for these cultural continuity reasons, and as you can see from this video, that desire is spreading throughout a number of other communities.

Its just another example of the need for people from all walks of life; young, old, single, couples (married or unmarried), big families and small.           

The Black Balloon, starring our very own Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward, Rhys Wakefield and the lovely Toni Collette, is a raw and honest though somewhat confronting insight into a family’s struggle with Autism. This little Aussie film is showing throughout Melbourne at Nova, Villiage, Hoyts and other indpendendant cinemas.

Autism can be a very challenging disorder for families to face, so having access to supports such as respite and foster care programs is an enormous benefit.

Contrary to popular associations of disability wheelchairs, a significant proportion of children in foster-types of disability support programs are affected Autism as well as additional health issues such as epilepsy.     

If you’ve seen The Black Balloon, tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

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!

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.>

I have just come across a useful article made available by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (Child Protection Clearing House) that looks at how children make disclosures, and how best to respond.  The information is particularly suited to carers, although may also be helpful for kinship carers, family members, and professionals who work with children.  The article describes disclosure as a process, with the potential for children and young people to retract their statements as a potential stage in the process.   Click here for a PDF of the article.

The Australian site ‘Peoplemaking’  has some interesting books available for purchase, including the classic ‘Child’s journey through placement’, and two books by Daniel Hughes on attachment.  There is also a picture book for foster children called ‘Kids need to be safe’.

While not based in Victoria, this quarterly newsletter produced by Queensland’s Department of Child Safety  called ‘Horizons’ has some interesting literature reviews and worker responses on topics relevant to carers Australia wide.  Topics covered include adolescent care, reunification and kinship.