About Foster & Kinship Care

Foster care is …

...a way of providing a safe and secure home for a child or young person who cannot live with their own parents. Foster carer families open their hearts and homes to children and young people, generally without any prior connection. Care can be for different lengths of time.

 

Kinship care is …

...a way of providing a safe and secure home for a child or young person who cannot live with their own parents. Kinship carer families open their hearts and homes to children and young people who are related through family or have an existing relationship with the family or community.

...the preferred care option because it maintains the child or young person’s existing connections to family, community, culture and country - especially in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. Care can be for different lengths of time.

Types of foster care

  • Emergency care
  • Short-term care
  • Long-term care
  • Respite care
  • Specialist care

Please refer to the Child Protection website for more information.

Types of kinship care

  • Kinship care
  • Specific-Child Only

Steps to become a Foster Carer

From start to finish, the journey to become a foster carer takes around six months. In South Australia, Foster Care Services provides information about becoming a foster carer.

Click here to find out more or phone 1300 2 FOSTER (1300 2 367 837)

Support for foster carers

Support agencies deliver services to foster carers – supporting them to provide safe and appropriate placements for children and young people in care.

Support agency services include:

  • Information sessions
    (group and/or one-to-one)
  • Recruitment
  • Assessment
  • Training
  • Support and supervision (including 24-hour emergency support)
  • Regular phone calls and home visits
  • Events and opportunities to connect with other foster carers

Visit the Child Protection website to see how the support agencies operate across various regions in SA and the particular types of foster care they support.

Support for kinship carers

Kinship carers are supported through the kinship care program managed by DCP.

Visit the Child Protection website to learn more about support.

Statement of Commitment for South Australian Foster & Kinship Carers

The Statement of Commitment is a partnership project between Connecting Foster & Kinship Carers SA (CF&KC-SA), Child and Family Focus SA (CAFFSA) and the Department for Child Protection (DCP).

The Statement sets out what Carers can expect from stakeholders, focusing on five key principles,

to be:

  • informed
  • supported
  • consulted
  • valued
  • respected

Partners will work together to support and value carers as an essential and respected part of the care team for children and young people in care.

Click here to view the Statement of Commitment document

“The simple act of caring is heroic.” (Edward Albert)