This week, we thanked and recognised our selfless, dedicated kinship and foster carers for their hard work in providing a safe and stable home for children and young people.
We celebrated our carers with a gift voucher and a local pizza in Jells Park thanks to the generous support from Knox City Council.
As part of Kinship Care Week, we interviewed carer Judith. She explained Anchor supporting a child’s placement in a full interview here.
“I had two part time jobs. I got a phone call one day that my nine-week-old grandson had been taken into care and would I be able to look after him for a month,” Judith says. “The plan was he would go back to the parents after that. When we got involved with DHHS, we found out that both of the parents with mental health issues were unable to cope.”
To highlight making foster care work for fulltime people, we also interviewed carers Emily and Jake, and Andrea.
“We adopted Biggie from the RSCPA in April of 2020. He loves the kids coming through and the kids love him a lot as well,” Jake explains.
“(The kids) will ask us, ‘you haven’t had Biggie for his whole life, have you? You didn’t know him when he was born. You don’t know his mum and dad.’ And there’s a lot of correlation between them recognising that he’s still part of our family,” Emily adds.
Our Child and Family Service team provide ongoing support and training opportunities to carers, ensuring placements are stable as the unexpected yet rewarding challenges arises.
“I had never made a kid’s birthday cake before, so he (her foster son) presented me with information that he was turning eight the next day,” Andrea recalls. “It was the first birthday cake he’d ever had.”
This week, we’re also running a free information session for those interested in learning more about foster care. If you’re interested in joining in on this online event, register your interest here.
Also, make sure you follow, like, and share all the Foster Care Week activity on our Facebook page and help spread the appreciation and celebrations this week!