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Fostering sector-wide collaboration
During Lisa’s first year, while familiarising herself with the sector, she noticed that agencies were competing against each other for foster carer inquiries, which highlighted the challenges of recruitment. This prompted Lisa to consider a different approach.
“The ultimate goal is the same for all of us: to place children and young people in safe, loving homes. I wanted to see a change that benefited everyone by providing all agencies with a unified brand.”
Lisa then developed a business case for the government, which led to the creation of Fostering Connections. This joint initiative among foster care agencies across metropolitan and regional Victoria provides prospective carers with comprehensive information about becoming a foster carer.
“Once we received government approval to establish Fostering Connections, it was only natural for The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare to take on its operations. So, I approached Deb Tsorbaris to get things underway. However, we still lacked a central system accessible to all agencies, which was crucial for consistently capturing data on inquiries, demographics, and accredited carers.”
Determined to address this, Lisa sought funding for this essential component. The Ian Potter Foundation generously provided a grant to develop a client information system. At that time, MacKillop Family Services was exploring a new system, making it an easy decision to use the grant to complete what MacKillop had initiated.
“Back then, many people had never even heard of us. By successfully fostering a collaborative approach that led to an initiative still thriving today, OzChild has established itself as an agency committed to working together for the betterment of all.”
Fostering Connections is a joint initiative of foster care agencies across metropolitan and regional Victoria to provide prospective carers with information about how to become an accredited foster carer.
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Acknowledgement of Country
OzChild acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work. We acknowledge their cultures are living ones, which relate to their ongoing connection to all things living and non-living on land, sea and sky.
We pay our respect to Elders past and present.
May the children of today lead us to a brighter tomorrow.
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