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Anchor Services
Foster Care
Anchor Foster Care provides safe, caring home environments for children aged 0-18 years who are unable to live at home either temporarily or permanently. The reasons can include domestic violence, sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, drug issues, the ill health or financial difficulties of a parent.
Anchor works co-operatively across the region with other foster care and family support agencies. This approach ensures the special needs of children in foster care are met. Individual children and sibling groups are supported. Some children need emergency foster care, some need care because of court orders and some families need respite care for their children on a regular basis.
The home-based foster care provided by Anchor carers can be short, medium or long term. The length of placements varies from overnight to weeks, months and in some cases years.
The carers nominate the type of foster care they can offer, e.g short-term emergency, medium or long-term care. Anchor?s primary objective is always to reunite children with their family of origin wherever it is appropriate and in the best interests of the child or children. To find out more about becoming an Anchor Foster Carer please telephone 03-9801 1999 or email fostercare@anchor.org.au
Foster Carers
Anchor foster carers are invaluable volunteers who provide crucial support and nurturing to the children in their care. They are carefully selected through an assessment and training process managed by Anchor Knox.
All Anchor carers are recruited and trained by Anchor. All carers play a major role in reuniting families.
Who can be a foster carer?
Anyone can apply to become a foster carer if they live in the City of Knox or some parts of the Shire of Yarra Ranges. Foster carers include single people, single parents, mothers and daughters, same sex couples, married people, people in de facto relationships, friends living in one household, people with or without children, young people, mature aged people, people who work full time, part time or do home duties.
People from different cultural, ethnic or religious backgrounds are encouraged to become foster carers.
Foster care is provided in carers own homes. Foster carers can decide the age group, gender and type of care they can provide in consultation with Anchor's foster care workers.
Ongoing and financial support for foster carers
Anchor is strongly committed to supporting its carers with access to support 24 hour per day, seven days a week. Carers also receive a monthly newsletter, which helps keep them abreast of foster care news, legislation and other carers and their experiences. Our caregivers are also supported by a peer support group which meets monthly and is a time to get together, discuss items of interest and share in some fun.
Anchor foster carers also receive some financial reimbursement to help meet the every day costs of caring. Payments are made fortnightly by the Department of Human Services.
Security
A requirement of all Anchor foster carers and people over 18 years of age living full-time or part-time at the prospective foster home is a mandatory police check and Working with Children Checks in accordance with recent Government legislation.
The step-by-step process of becoming a foster carer
- Contact the Anchor Foster Care agency direct on 9801 1999. Alternatively, contact the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare Hotline on
1800 013 088. They will forward your details to the agency.
- An information pack about Foster Care will be posted to you including an Expression of Interest form.
- Upon receiving this form, Anchor Foster Care will contact you to organise an Information Exchange visit to your home, which includes our training officer and a current foster carer.
- Prospective carers are asked to return the remaining completed forms to Anchor Foster Care including the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least 3 referees.
- Anchor Foster Care contacts the nominated referees by mail and by telephone.
- Anchor also requires the name and contact number of your medical practitioner.
- Prospective carers also provide the agency with their 'Life Story. A form is provided to guide you on what is required.
- Anchor Foster Care invites prospective carers by mail, to the Induction Training.
- Induction training involves 8 sessions, which take place over three full Saturdays.
Sample topics covered in training sessions:
- About foster care
- Agency profile
- Teamwork
- Grievance procedures
- Why children come into care
- Types of care
- The referral process
- Placement processes
- When the child arrives in placement
- What makes a 'good' foster parent
- What may be the impact of fostering on your family
- Potential stresses in being a foster parent
- Strengths and needs as a foster parent
- Birth parents' access
- Department of Human Services: Eastern Region - guest speaker
- Loss and Grief
- Bonding and Attachment
- Child Development
- Panel of current foster parents
- Ending the group
Caring for the carers - ways to help
There are a number of ways members of the community can support and assist Anchor Foster Care other than being foster carer. Volunteers can:
- Train to be a support person for a carer (babysitting, weekend respite etc).
- Provide travel assistance, for example taking children to and from school. Sometimes it is difficult for carers with more than one child to meet travel and transport needs.
- Cooking/cleaning Caring for a lot of children is time consuming, especially when it also involves attending various essential appointments. Assistance with cooking, cleaning, bathtime or reading to a child while the carer prepares a meal is very helpful.
- Tutoring/helping with homework. Some children need extra help with their schoolwork. Assistance with homework or educational play and life-skill learning can sometimes be invaluable to busy carers.
- Voluntary administrative assistance at Anchor Foster Care, for example photocopying.
For more information on all aspects of foster care, volunteering and other ways to assist Anchor Foster Care telephone 03-9801 1999 or email fostercare@anchor.org.au
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