Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

There are varied motivations - including caring for a relative or maintaining community connections, starting a family, growing a family and wanting to help a child or young person in need.

The following personal qualities are sought in prospective Carers to offer children and young people a high quality care experience:

Patience, kindness and understanding

Many children and young people that enter the child protection system will experience complex emotional issues. These can result in behaviours that are challenging for a Carer to deal with. Whilst there are behavioural management strategies that will help, above all else Carers need patience, kindness and understanding.

Empathy

Children and young people in care are likely to experience many types of emotions, such as feeling rejected and uncertain about the future. They may blame themselves for the situation they find themselves in and/or want to return to their birth parents; all will experience some level of trauma. Carers who can respond sensitively to these needs are much more likely to achieve successful outcomes.

Respect for cultural awareness

Issues around 'identity' and 'belonging' are common for children and young people to experience when they have been separated from their birth parents. These issues may be heightened for a child placed with Carers from a different cultural heritage. It is therefore extremely important for Carers to not only respect cultural differences but also support children and young people to explore their cultural heritage.

Positive and effective communication

Carers have responsibilities to work together in partnership with various organisations and professionals, and may also have contact with members of the child or young person’s birth family. Being able to establish good working relationships with everyone in a child or young person’s life will make it easier for the best outcomes to be achieved.

Flexibility, resilience and commitment

Carers often deal with a wide range of demanding situations – the more flexible and resilient a Carer is, the better they can manage any associated stress. For example, where a child or young person is to be reunified with their birth family, a Carer will need to be able to support the transition; conversely, a child or young person in long-term care needs a Carer to be committed to supporting them through any challenges.

Lack of judgement

Leaving any pre-conceptions about the child and its family 'at the door' means Carers are able to actively support the child or young person’s connections or understanding of its family. This is crucial to each child or young person's wellbeing and development.

Willingness to learn

All Carers will be presented with learning opportunities to meet the needs of the children and young people in care, such as the effects of trauma and neglect.

Foster carers are required to undertake training and attend refresher sessions.

Kinship carers are related to a child or young person through family or have an existing relationship with the family or community. Kinship care helps the child or young person to maintain connections and is the first consideration when a child or young person enters the care system.

Kinship care is particularly important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as it maintains the child or young person’s cultural connections to family, language and community.

Any adult who is an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident can apply to become a foster carer including individuals and couples of any gender, whether or not they have children.

Yes, this is possible. It will depend however on each family's circumstances - and the needs of the children and young people who may be placed in your care.

If you are a kinship carer and want to also provide foster care, discuss with your DCP kinship care team before approaching a foster care agency for more information.

If you are a foster carer and want to also provide kinship care, discuss with your foster care agency and DCP kinship care team.

Any changes affecting care arrangements may require additional assessments, including training.

There are several steps involved in becoming an approved foster carer. While each application is considered on its own merits, the process often takes around *6 months and includes checks, assessments and training to ensure children and young people receive the highest standards of care.

*This time is flexible and can sometimes take longer depending on each person's individual circumstances.

A range of checks and screening are undertaken on all adults living in the home, including criminal history, *child protection screening, referee checks, medical checks and home safety assessments. These are updated regularly and required to be current at all times. Some of these checks are fast-tracked for kinship carers to ensure the child or young person’s safety, and then completed more fully at a later date.

(Several of these checks also apply to staff working in Government Departments, support agencies and other services.)

*DHS screening can be delayed at times, taking 8 weeks or more. DCP advise Carers speak with their foster care agency or kinship care team, with a view towards asking the 'Requesting Officer' to contact DHS to query any extended delays.

Information about kinship care is available through the Kinship Care program. Please contact the Department for Child Protection for more information.

Information sessions about foster care are held regularly, often in group settings but also on a one-to-one basis. Please refer to the Child Protection website for more information, or contact a foster care agency.

Information about registered foster care agencies is available via the SA GOV website and prospective carers may contact any agency they choose. There are some limitations however, depending on geographical location and specific types of care. Foster care agencies hold information sessions regularly for people wanting more information about foster care.

It is important that every child or young person is given the best possible opportunity to fit in well with their Carer family/families.

Understanding a Carers’ preferences and capabilities is part of this important work – some families will be more suited to babies, while others more suited to caring for young people attending high school. Some families will have room and energy for large sibling groups and others for one child only. Foster care agencies are responsible for understanding what works for each family.

Cultural background is an important consideration, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

Under s79 of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA) (the Act), approved carers must be provided with certain information prior to placement - this includes any information that may be relevant to the decision whether or not to accept the placement.

In any instance where information is not provided, it is important to follow up with your foster care agency and/or child or young person's DCP case worker before accepting the placement.

It is important that every child or young person is given the best possible opportunity to fit in well with their Carer family/families. This involves providing them with *certain information prior to placement.

Under s80 of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA) (the Act), placement agencies must provide a child or young person with prescribed information about the approved carer prior to placement.

Kinship carers often have contact and maintain relationships with birth families, especially given around half of all kinship carers in SA are grandparents.

This is not a requirement of foster carers and foster carer details are not provided to birth families. The DCP case worker is responsible for arranging contact where required.

While this is not a requirement of foster carers, there are times where contact with birth parents, siblings and significant others can be developed and positive relationships are able to be maintained.

Being a Carer is a not a paid position, however there is a tax-free reimbursement to cover day-to-day expenses. Additional payments may be available to cover further expenses and some Carers may also be eligible for payments through Australian Government services, including Centrelink.

There are different levels and types of payments, together with consideration of funding for exceptional resources to support the needs of children and young people.

Please refer to the Department for Child Protection website for more information.

The DCP Carer Payments Team have advised there are new Carer Payment Rates and Loadings effective 1 October 2018.

There are 2 different loadings:

1. High Intervention (Behavioural)
2. Physical/Intellectual (Special Needs)

Further information is available on the DCP website.

Approved Carers should refer to their DCP case worker, senior practitioner or supervisor with questions regarding loadings and the calculations of loadings.

If you have a complaint about issues relating to foster and kinship care: 

Wherever possible, issues will be raised and resolved at the local level with the child or young person’s DCP case worker, and/or with the Carer’s foster care agency support work or kinship care team support worker.

If issues cannot be resolved at a local level, CF&KC-SA offer a free, professional advocacy service for Carers to help explore their options and consider further action.

This may involve supporting Carers to escalate issues to the supervisors and managers of local offices and/or agencies and kinship care teams, before contacting the Central Complaints Unit within the Office of the Chief Executive.

Under s157 and s158 of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA) (the Act), approved Carers may seek an internal DCP review of certain decisions, and a subsequent external review of decisions by South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT). There are conditions and timeframes which apply to reviews - refer to the CF&KC-SA Carer Guide: Review of Decisions.

CF&KC-SA can help Carers to identify concerns, communicate issues, consider options, manage complaints, seek internal and external reviews, navigate systems and to propose resolutions through our individual advocacy services.

If you have a complaint about CF&KC-SA:

Please contact CF&KC-SA and tell us. We welcome all feedback and aim to resolve complaints about our service.

Centrelink provides families with financial assistance to help cover the cost of child care through the Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate.

The Department for Child Protection (DCP) also provides financial assistance in covering the costs of pre-approved child care for foster and kinship carers.

For more information, visit the DCP website.

For children and young people attending school, there is an Education Grant paid to Carers per term to cover the fees and associated costs. If the Education Grant is not enough to cover the current fees or other costs incurred, Carers can seek additional financial assistance through their child or young person’s DCP case worker at the relevant DCP office. Additional assistance is considered on a case by case basis.

Yes – while there may be some limitations and occasional exceptions, all activities that include children and young people in the regular experiences of family life are encouraged.

Planning for independence is an important part of all young people’s transition to adulthood. Leaving care may mean some young people need assistance to access services and support.

Post care support services are available through Relationships Australia and financial assistance may be available through Dame Roma Mitchell grants.

For more information, please refer to the Department for Child Protection website.

EXTENSION OF MODIFIED CARER PAYMENT

The Department for Child Protection (DCP) is committed to supporting young people in care to reach their full potential, which includes getting a good education and a good job into the future. As part of the Nyland Royal Commission recommendations for young people who are transitioning to adult life (15 to 25 years), DCP will continue to provide modified carer payments so that young people can stay at home while they finish their education or training.

This support is available for kinship and foster carers of young people who are:

• Turning 18 on 1 July 2017 or later;
• In post-secondary education or training including  university or other training after high school including apprenticeships or vocational studies;
• Studying full-time (or part time where they have a disability); and
• It is in the young person’s best interests to remain in the carer’s home.

The payment that will be extended is the same as for young people completing high school post-18, which is the basic 17 year old carer subsidy together with the term by term education grant. 

This payment will be available until the young person:

• Moves out of the family home; or
• Completes their qualification; or
• Turns 25 - whichever is sooner.

For more information, the Carer Support Payments Handbook has been updated and is available on the DCP website .

Contact your allocated DCP case manager or office who will help you to claim the payment if it’s right for your circumstances.

Long Term Guardianship (Specified Person) provides children with a loving and stable care environment - where their current Carer becomes their legal guardian. The Youth Court can appoint up to 2 people to become the legal guardians of a child. Please visit the Department for Child Protection webpage for more information.

Adoption is a permanent legal arrangement and therefore has many requirements and considerations.

Please refer to the Department for Child Protection website for more information.

While strongly supporting approaches which offer a child or young person stability and security within a loving family home, CF&KC-SA take this opportunity to raise and acknowledge the following 3 specific issues - in the hopes they may be part of considerations and conversations around adoption:

Each change in circumstance is different and needs to be reviewed on an individual basis and based on the changes and arrangements at that time.

A change in Carer circumstance may result in a modification of arrangements regarding living arrangements, Carer payments and other variations to previously held agreements.

Any changes affecting care arrangements should be advised to the foster care agency or kinship care team in the first instance, together with the DCP case worker.