Foster Care Victoria

moktah

Hi all

I've joined this forum in the hope that some of you may be able to answer my questions about foster caring.

I am thinking about becoming a foster mum because I love children and would love some more of my own, but personal circumstances are working against the likely of this dream ever becoming a reality.

I'm interested in doing medium to long term care.

I am a single mother on a pension and my main concern is that being a foster parent is not going to leave me out of pocket. Are foster parents looked after financially? By that I mean, is the reimbursement allowance realistic? Is it enough to cover basic expenses? Does Centrelink provide some sort of financial support also?

Also, I homeschool my children, would I be able to homeschool any foster child that comes into my care?

Would I be classed as the child's guardian, able to make decisions about their education, health etc? Or would I have to check with someone about those sorts of decisions?

Would I be able to take foster kids on interstate holidays with us? What happens if I can't take them but still want to go visit my family in Sydney?

Are agency staff intrusive?

I have a few more questions, but I guess for now I'll stop here. I will appreciate all answers. Thank you so much.

moktah
Very Happy

bowie23 · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:49 am Post subject:

Hi Moktah, great to have you on board.

There is a large need for carers who are able to take children on board long term, so I encourage you to start the process and see where it takes you.

Speaking from personal experience, low-income single-parent households are definitely able to make fostering work. My mother was a single parent of two - she worked part time, we rented and we also fostered for many years.

The fortnightly reimbursements alone may or may not meet your costs depending on the child/ren in your care. Simply put, some children cost more to care for than others, and some carers situations may mean caring costs more (lost work time etc.). Carers also receive any Centrelink benefits for foster children that they would for their own children. Foster children are all also issued with a Health Care and Medicare card.

Homeschooling is a tricky one. Depending on who was guardianship of the individual child/ren this decision will vary. In many cases, the parent retains guardianship of children, and therefore would be able to make most decisions regarding their child/ren's education - including whether or not to homeschool them. In other situations, the Department of Human Services will have guardianship, and then they would have to agree to this decision. Considering many children in care have quite specific educational needs, I doubt that many situations would allow for a child to be home-schooled.

Foster children are able to travel interstate, but only with permission from their guardian and the Department of Human Services. This is because DHS jurisdiction only encompasses the state of Victoria. However, even if a child is unable to travel interstate, you can still go on holiday and the child may go on respite or their own holiday (a camp etc.) for this period of time.

In regards to agency staff - it is generally not agency staff who are intrusive, but the processes they are required to go through. The assessment process required to become a foster carer can seem intrusive, as a lot of personal information is needed to complete an accreditation report for a new foster carer.

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask away. There is a lot of experience among the members of this forum which I'm sure we'll all be happy to share Smile

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