Meet Foster Carer Dana

Foster Care | Posted August 13, 2026

Introducing OzChild Foster Carer

Dana

“Hi, my name’s Dana. I’ve been a foster carer for about three and a half years now, and the reason I became a foster carer was because I used to work in the space as a foster care case manager myself, and saw the need for a particular young person with complex needs.”

Ask Dana what makes a great foster carer and her answer isn’t professional qualifications or parenting expertise.

“It’s patience,” she says. “Being calm. Being consistent. Just showing up.”

Household

Single carer living with family

Foster Carer For

3.5 Years

Occupation

Disability Support Coordinator

Types of care

Emergency and Respite 

Dana’s Story

Dana’s foster care journey began with a special connection with one young person.

Before becoming a foster carer, Dana worked as a foster care case manager at OzChild, supporting children and young people navigating the care system. Through that work, she saw firsthand the difference foster carers can make in a child’s life. One young person in particular inspired her to take the next step herself.

“We’d really struggled to find the right match for him,” Dana recalls. “So when I was no longer in the program, I decided that it was my time to become a foster carer and offer the family some respite.”

What started as a way to help one young person soon became the beginning of her own foster care journey. Three and a half years later, Dana continues to provide emergency and respite care through OzChild.

For Dana, fostering is about creating a sense of safety and stability from the moment a child arrives. “Children often come to respite feeling unsure about what’s happening,” she explains. “My job is to help them feel safe.”

That might mean stocking the fridge with foods they enjoy, giving them choices about dinner, showing them around the house or simply sitting with them while they settle in. A respite weekend might include takeaway for dinner, a movie night, watching favourite shows or enjoying a sleep-in. Dana believes it’s the small, consistent moments that matter most. “It’s really about giving them a chance to relax and have some downtime,” she says.

One experience in particular, reminded her why those moments are important. After a respite weekend with a young person, Dana discovered a video message they had secretly recorded on her phone. The message was simple: “Thank you for being kind.”

“Children in care don’t always find it easy to trust adults or be vulnerable,” she says. “Knowing she felt safe enough to share that meant a lot.”

Get to know Dana

Dana answers some common questions about life as a respite and emergency foster carer.

 Dana Answers Questions about Foster Care

You Can Ask That

“I used to work in foster care as a case manager. The reason I became a foster carer was when I left the program, I decided to do respite for one of the young people that I used to case manage.

He’d been in a long-term placement and we’d really struggled to find the appropriate match for him due to a number of complexities, some of his behaviours, and he also had disabilities, which meant we had to find a really appropriate match. So when I was no longer in the program, decided that it was my time to become a foster carer and offer the family some respite and have him stay overnight in my care.

I’d always considered becoming a foster carer. The reason why I became a foster carer at that time was because the young person’s foster family just needed some support – probably a bit earlier than I would have thought, but the timing was right for me.”

“The reason I chose OzChild was because I knew the staff and the processes and I’d seen sort of firsthand the work and the passion that a lot of the case managers had. I knew the environment and the values and they really aligned with me personally, so that’s why I chose OzChild.”

“I don’t think that’s a barrier at all. Although I have professional experience, I don’t have children of my own and I haven’t parented before and that wasn’t something that was a barrier for me to become a foster carer either.

What I wish more people knew about foster care is that it’s a lot more broad and open than what people think. It’s not just families who can provide foster care. It can be single people, single parents with kids, empty nesters as well. And it doesn’t have to be long-term care. It can just be a weekend or a night here and there. You don’t need to have kids or any kind of prior experience caring for kids.”

“You have to be over 21. You have to have a spare bedroom, be willing and able to undergo police checks and working with children’s checks, and be willing and able to undergo the training and to complete the assessment process. So it’s really a lot more broad and open than a lot of people think. And OzChild can offer support in terms of development or training that you think might be helpful for you as a foster carer.”

“To become a foster carer, I attended the initial information session and from there I completed a quite extensive assessment and training with one of the foster care recruitment people. That included talking about my motivations to become a foster carer and going through my life history as well, to make sure that there wasn’t anything that could be triggered or any challenge that could come up in providing care for a young person. They also interviewed people that knew me as well to get an idea of my supports, and then they made a report and took it to a foster care panel where I was accredited for foster care. They also spoke to me about the types of care that would work for me – so, working full-time, long-term care isn’t something that would suit my lifestyle at the moment, which is why I chose to do emergency and respite care.”

“Respite care is when a child is in a long or short-term placement with another foster carer or maybe a kinship carer, and they’ll come to me for a weekend or a short period. Usually it might be if the primary foster carer is travelling, or if there are complexities in the placement where the primary foster carer might need a break, or the foster kid may need a break as well from that environment. So it’s really just kind of like having a sleepover, and they’ve got a stable, long-term placement.

While I’m currently an emergency and respite carer, short-term and long-term care is something that I’d be open to in the future depending on my personal circumstances, my living arrangements, my work arrangements. And that’s something that I chat to my case manager about in terms of changing my preferences.”

“I think in the day-to-day, my life’s still pretty much the same, which I think is a really good thing to consider when it comes to foster care. It’s not going to change everything completely. But what it has added is a sense of giving back and being able to have those small moments with kids.

It was definitely a consideration for me that my life was quite busy with my work commitments and my social commitments. I think what’s been really great is that OzChild’s really respectful of my time. If there is a weekend that I’m not available, if I’m going away, I’ll let OzChild know and I don’t get any calls for that weekend. I don’t get calls during the week for care arrangements because I know that I’m not able to do that. So I’m only contacted when I’m available.”

“Yeah, I’ve definitely said no to foster care placements before. If I’ve been called during school holidays when I have been away or unavailable, that’s definitely something that you can do – say no. If I get a call and the kid might be afraid of dogs, then my placement may not be the most appropriate, because we do have a number of dogs at the house; or if there are safety concerns in terms of managing stairs or things like that, because we’ve got a staircase. If I am contacted on a weekend and I do have plans, I just say I’m not available and that’s totally fine.”

“So when I get a call from after hours or from a case manager about a potential emergency placement or a respite, they will give me the details of the child in terms of their age or any complexities in terms of disabilities or behaviours of concern. If I’m available for the timeframe that they are requesting, and I feel like the match is going to be suitable for me and that time period, I’ll let them know. Then what happens is the case manager or after hours goes back to Child Protection and says we’ve got this foster carer available. If they deem me the most suitable, I’ll get a call back. And then usually we’ll arrange the details for that kid to be dropped off – who’s bringing them, where they’re coming from, if there’s anything that I need to prepare for my own end.

For example, my first foster care placement came to me on New Year’s Eve and he was seven years old, which meant I had to go get a car seat, get some toys that I didn’t have already available. So they try and give you as much information as possible so that I can be prepared as much as possible.

What I’ve learned with OzChild is that they’re quite deliberate in their matching and they’ll only contact you if they feel that you’re capable or if your home is suitable for the kind of young person they’re looking to have care for.”

“Yeah, those first couple of hours are always a bit stressful and a bit chaotic. You’ve got a kid coming into your house who has really no idea what to expect. Something that I have developed now is a bit of a little sheet with a picture of me and who lives in my home, that I’ll share with OzChild and share with the child protection workers so that the kid has an idea of what they’re walking into.

Those first few hours is definitely about showing them the rules and the expectations of the house, showing them where available food is – that’s always really important – and asking them what they’d like for dinner and trying to give them as much choice and control as possible.

Really the focus when you’ve got a kid for such a short time is making them feel really safe. It’s just about being calm, being consistent and having a soft approach.”

“At the moment I have one regular respite placement. I’ll either pick her up from school on a Friday or she’ll be brought to me on a Friday. We’ll normally have some takeout on Friday night. She likes to watch Beast Games, which is a reality TV show, so we normally watch that on repeat! We then might go to the movies or go get our nails done. But it really is quite chill, because for this placement it’s about giving her the opportunity to have just some downtime to kind of do what she wants. And then I’ll drop her back to her normal placement on Sunday night.”

“Complex needs for children in foster care can include physical or intellectual disabilities, as well as social and emotional difficulties. It can also include behaviours of concern. Because the kids we’re dealing with often have really complex experiences of trauma, that can manifest in some behaviours of concern – like internet use or emotional dysregulation.

What I find is the best approach for working with a young person with complex needs is being really clear and consistent with my approach, because they want to know what the boundaries are, what they can and can’t do. So what helps me prepare for kids with complex needs is the wealth of information that OzChild provides before they arrive, because that makes sure that I can do all the preparation on my end.”

“A young person came to me on a Friday night as an emergency placement for the weekend. We had a conversation earlier that night around what the bedtime routine was going to look like and expectations around iPad use and technology, which is a big thing for a lot of the young people in care.

When it came time to give up the iPad, she did not want to give it up. She said things like, ‘you’re not the boss of me. I don’t give permission to touch my things.’ And it was a bit of a shock moment and quite concerning, because you can’t just go and grab and take the iPad off her – that’s not appropriate for a kid in care. So I’d given her some time, I came back, she still did not want to give me the iPad back. How I managed that was I took away her charger and put it with the rest of her belongings, and then after a while I turned the internet off. So I knew that even if she didn’t want to give me the iPad, she wasn’t going to have unsafe access to the internet, and eventually the iPad would die. So really leaning on those natural consequences.

What was really great though was the next night when it came to going to bed, I went to check in on her and she was already at the door handing me over her iPad. And she said, ‘I’m sorry. Last night I was really upset. My first night here, I’d just been with these other carers for 10 nights and I was really upset. But here’s my iPad.’ And that was a great moment. I was prepared for a bit of a fight, a bit of a struggle, but I’d been consistent and calm in my approach and that really helped the next day.”

“The great thing that I’ve experienced so far from OzChild is the wealth of information they’ll give you when supporting a young person, and that really helps me prepare. So information about medications or things to avoid in terms of a child’s history can be really helpful.

If I have concerns about how to support a young person, I can always contact After Hours as well, and they can provide me with advice or guidance and can even contact previous foster carers to get some information if needed.

They have also offered support at times – for example, when I was called to take an emergency placement on New Year’s Eve, I did have some plans and they’d offered to have a support worker come and look after the young person while I went to my plans.

Some of the other supports that OzChild can offer carers is training on how to support young children across various topics. I also know they run foster carer morning teas and information sessions. They give you a chance to connect with other carers in your area too.”

“When I first started to do emergency care, where you’re just seeing a kid for a week, it was a concern of mine that you’d form a bit of emotional connection and be worried about where they are going to next. The way I’ve reframed it and the way I think about it to myself is that I have the opportunity to give this kid one weekend of my full attention and to give them a really positive experience. And while I may not be able to help them moving forward, I’ve given them my all for one weekend.

Usually, for emergency placements, if you have a kid for a weekend, they may not come back. I normally take that as a positive sign, though, because it means they’ve found a more long-term suitable placement or they’ve returned back to family.”

“Something that I found quite helpful in terms of my own self-care as a carer is taking time for myself, and having friends that are really understanding and accommodating. Maybe we had dinner plans on the weekend, but now I’ve got a young person and I’ve chosen to stay home for that period of time – and having the people around you to support you.

I’m really fortunate – my parents are a really good support of mine. They’re police checked, nad have working with children’s checks. So if I do have a young person who’s with me for the weekend, they may be able to watch them for an hour or two while I go to the gym or go for a walk, or even something as simple as running to the supermarket if that situation can be quite overwhelming for that young person or if they don’t want to come with me.”

“I think what makes a great foster carer is patience and being able to remain calm and consistent. When you’re caring for a child in foster care, you often don’t get that openness straight away – they may not say thank you a lot of the time, because to them you’re just another stranger that’s caring for them. But in the long term, it is quite rewarding.”

“One moment that really sticks out to me and that really keeps me going in my foster care journey was one young person I do respite for. She was playing on my phone, as they all do. I found she’d recorded a video on my phone and messaged basically, ‘thank you for being so kind.’ And for a lot of kids in foster care, they find it really hard to make those connections and to be emotionally vulnerable. So that’s a video that from time to time I go back to. It’s a really nice thing to look back on.

Being able to have those small moments with kids, whether it’s just a weekend or an overnight where I’m able to make a positive impact on their lives — that’s where it’s really been beneficial for me, to be able to know that I’ve made that change and made that positive impact.”

Something that being a foster carer has taught me that no amount of professional training could ever teach me is that just showing up is really half the battle sometimes for kids in care. They’ve had lots of experiences where the adults in their environment haven’t been safe or consistent or emotionally and physically available. Sometimes just being there, even though you’re not perfect, the kids really appreciate you just being there and trying your best.”

“For those who are thinking of taking the next step, I’d say just do it. Going through the entire process and the training, you get more and more comfortable with the idea as you do it. And the moment that you become accredited is not the moment you will get that call asking you for a placement. OzChild are very considered with the kind of matches they’ll make for you and will make the placements and referrals that are going to be suited to you and your family.”

Interested in learning more about becoming a foster carer?

For information about fostering in your state, visit our information pages below.

Become a Foster Carer in Victoria Become a Foster Carer in Queensland Become a Foster Carer in the ACT

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