Little moments change lives. Discover how one moment can have a lasting impact on a child in need. If you're thinking of becoming a foster carer, explore how below.
Every year, new homes are needed for thousands of vulnerable children and young people across Victoria. Foster carers play a critical role in supporting these children and young people by giving them a safe place to call home.
Foster carers come from all types of family units (including singles), backgrounds and cultures. Race, gender, marital status, religion or sexual orientation have absolutely no bearing on eligibility.
At OzChild, we value all prospective foster carers with the qualities and beliefs that we know will give every child and young person the chance to shine.
As long as you are over the age of 21 and able to provide secure accommodation and appropriate space in your home, you can become a foster carer.
Want to know what being a foster carer is really like? Tune in to the Who Cares? podcast to hear directly from the carers themselves!
Every OzChild carer household is supported by our Caring Team approach. Our dedicated Case Managers provide a holistic approach to the child or young person in your care and all members of your caring household while our national Thriving Families carer strategy aims to continually improve the carer household experience.
There are six important steps to welcoming your first child and/or young person into your home, and OzChild are with you every step of the way.
We guide all our prospective carers through a thorough recruitment process to ensure we provide safe and loving homes for children and young people. Our recruitment process is based on state wide standardised assessment and training guidelines from the Victorian Government.
From the point of enquiry to accreditation, the process can take anywhere between 4 – 7 months.
Yes. Foster care is a commitment from the whole family, and when you become carers you become a foster care household. We strongly encourage all adults in the household to undertake the Shared Lives training to ensure they feel well prepared and confident for their role as a foster carer.
There are several types of foster care, including emergency care, short to medium term care, long term care and respite care. You can learn more about the different types of care in the “What care can I provide?” section above.
Case Managers
Our Case Managers provide a holistic approach to the child or young person in your care and all members of your caring household through a care team approach.
The voice of the child is central to what we do: “To tell someone if l am unhappy and have a worker who is there for me” through one on one time between the case manager and child.
Case Managers assess and plan to meet the needs of children and young people through the Looking After Children Framework. This includes overseeing referrals, cultural support planning, promoting contact, court reports, case administration, carer supervision and building relationships with the child and young person.
Carer Support
Our national Thriving Families carer strategy is delivered through portfolio management to continually improve the carer household experience.
Community building, induction processes, resources, training and development, communication, intake and respite, ensures we set all caring households up for success.
This also includes conducting annual reviews and ensuring all compliance checks are up to date and ongoing reviews with carers of placement profile and ‘agreed placement matches’.
Our children are all ages, from babies through to teenagers and young adults.
We will help you consider the age and needs of the child you feel best match your family, interests, lifestyle and skills to help make the best possible match.
Yes. You can work full-time and foster. We tailor our support to ensure your foster care household and child/young person in your care thrives.
Yes. If you are a single person and have the energy and patience and care about children, you can become a foster carer.
Yes. OzChild welcomes carers from different backgrounds, cultures, religions and same sex relationships.
Children in foster care need to have their own space and privacy such as a bed and a place to store their belongings. Foster Children can share a room with your own children, taking into account the age and gender of the foster child and type of care.
Foster care is not paid employment. Foster carers receive a tax-free fortnightly carer contribution based on the age of the child to help feed, clothe, educate and meet the needs of the foster child in their care.
The aim of foster care is to provide temporary care to a child with the aim of the child returning to their birth family. If the Children’s Court decide the child will not be returning to their family, discussions will occur on a case by case basis as to whether the child moves into a longer-term foster care placement or permanent care.
OzChild recommends that you have finished IVF for at least 12 months before you start the foster care process. This enables you to make the emotional adjustments of not having a child of your own.
Becoming a foster carer can be incredibly fulfilling, knowing you’re giving a child or young person in need the best chance to shine. All you need is room in your heart, and your home.
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