What support is available for foster carers?
Foster carers play an important role in the lives of children and young people in foster care. They help them to feel a sense of safety, stability and comfort in their home. If you’re a foster carer, or on your journey to becoming a carer, it’s important that you feel supported and connected.
The level of support you need as a carer can change over time and will also depend on factors including your level of experience, confidence and the individual needs of each child who comes into your care.
If you’re thinking about becoming a foster carer and want to know what support is available, here are some of the types of support that Anglicare Southern Queensland can offer:
Regular ongoing support
When you become a foster carer, you become linked to a foster and kinship care agency, like Anglicare Southern Queensland. The agency is the main provider of formal support to carers. Your agency will provide you with a Foster and Kinship Care Practitioner who will visit you monthly, or twice a month, to provide you with general support, check in with everyone in the household, support you to navigate the child protection system and advocate for carer and children’s needs.
Care agencies also provide the following, regular, support:
- information about your role and how they can assist you
- ongoing mandatory and advanced training
- access to local support groups and get-togethers with foster carers in you area
- 24/7 crisis telephone support
- face-to-face support via home visits
- phone and email support
- access to a Cultural Support Worker if you have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children in your care.
Your foster and kinship care agency will work with you to develop a learning plan specifically for your learning needs.
Training and development support
Along with our agency, The Department of Child Safety offers training and development opportunities and a wide range of additional training modules for foster carers. These modules can be delivered and completed at your own pace, completed online or in small-group training sessions. We aim to make them accessible to you and your needs.
Cultural support
At Anglicare Southern Queensland, we are committed to reconciliation and ensuring First Nations children in care remain connected to Country and Culture.
We provide specialised cultural support for foster and kinship carers with dedicated Cultural Support Workers in regions across Southern Queensland.
This support is especially valuable for carers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people as it equips them with skills and knowledge of traditions to keep children connected to their culture.
Financial support
Carer allowances and reimbursements of child-related costs are available through the Department of Child Safety. Fortnightly carer payments as of January 2024 range from $567.14 to $716.66 per fortnight, depending on the age of the child.
Other payments may include establishment allowances, start-up/outfitting allowance and High Support Needs Allowance (HSNA). You will also have automatic entitlement to a Carer Business Discount Card. This entitles eligible carers to a range of discounts on home appliances, automotive and transport, food, accommodation, recreation and leisure.
Respite support
Respite is a good opportunity for you to take a short break to recharge so that you’re at your best when you are caring for a child. This type of support is also available if you have other commitments, such as a planned trip to visit relatives overseas.
Respite care is available from as little as a few hours, a day, a night, weekend or for school holidays.
Out-of-hours emergency services
This support is available for carers requiring emergency assistance or to report incidents outside of normal business hours. This helps you to effectively respond to the needs of the child in your care, as soon as possible.
Connections to other support services within our carer network
Anglicare Southern Queensland can also assist carers by linking them with other support services like Queensland Foster and Kinship Care to ensure carers have additional resources and access to event opportunities to feel engrossed in their carer network.
Carer connection events
Across the regions we serve, Anglicare Southern Queensland hosts a range of events for carers and young people to connect and provide insights, advice and support. Carer connection events are important for maintaining a sense of community for our foster carers and the children in their care.
We’re in this together
For more information on becoming a foster carer and how we will take the foster care journey with you, download our Foster Care Information Kit.
If you’re keen to explore the support available to foster carers in greater detail, visit the Department of Child Safety website.
