Our Foster Carers
“After months of careful thinking and talking, we decided that our family could happily fit one more little member. We began fostering our little man when he was three months old, always hoping that it would be a long-term placement, and it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. When the placement was made long-term we were elated - it was almost like giving birth (without the pain!)
There have definitely been some ups and downs along the way … but the joy of seeing a baby grow into a happy, confident and independent child is worth all that any day.
People say that our little one is lucky, but really I think we are the ones that are blessed. Our natural children absolutely adore him and the feeling is mutual. As parents, we get to have another beautiful boy who gives us so much joy and laughter – and keeps us on our toes! Plus we know that we have made a difference by providing a child with a secure, loving and encouraging environment where they are safe to grow and develop into their own little person and that feels great.”
Duncan and Jo, Foster Carers
“Becoming foster carers thirteen and a half years ago for twin one year old girls was a very daunting, overwhelming and challenging experience as we already had two children of our own at the time. However over the years we have witnessed these girls grow into wonderful, caring teenagers. They have developed an amazing, loving relationship with their biological family and fortunately we are also able to be part of it. Thankfully CatholicCare have always been there to offer us relevant training and support, enabling everyone the chance to have a positive influence in the lives of these two girls.”
John and Karen, Foster Carers turned Adoptive Parents
“We have really enjoyed fostering (respite care). We have learnt a lot and enjoyed spending time with children. It feels good knowing we have made a difference even over a short time. CatholicCare have been very supportive.”
Karen and Lyn, Foster Carers
From Cheryl: “My husband Robert and I are relative new comers to the fostering team at CatholicCare, being accepted as short term/pre-adoptive carers in May 2009. We were then very blessed and privileged to become foster parents to a dear little 2 day old boy in July 2009 who was to be placed with adoptive parents. This little baby stole not only our hearts but that of our family and friends. He brought immeasurable joy into our lives and we love him dearly — he started out as a very “angry” babe but by around 8 weeks of age turned the corner to become one of the happiest babes you could wish to know — always smiling and laughing in his gorgeous way. He has been adopted into a wonderful, young family home and his Mum, Dad and three-year-old sister absolutely adore him. The best thing for Robert and I is that his new “mum and dad” want us to remain a part of his life. I think we are now unofficially his “grandparents”!
Our little one’s best interests were always central in any decisions made by CatholicCare and Community Services and they worked very cohesively and cooperatively together. When it was time for him to go, both Caseworkers were with us at the changeover for support.
We’d be lying if we said that letting out little man go was easy (it was heartbreaking). In fact, we explored the option to adopt him ourselves but realised that this was very selfish on our part — but how do you let go of someone you have loved unconditionally for the past 7 months? After much soul-searching and working through our questions, anxieties and fears between ourselves and the caseworkers we came to have a real peace about our decision to let him go. Many people have said to us in the past 12 months, “how can you foster children then let them go”? They also say in the same breath that they would love to foster but couldn’t for that very reason but we look at it this way: if we can give a baby a good start in life, full of unconditional love and security, then our feelings are a small price to pay and as adults, we can deal with our issues in our own time — the most important person is this little babe. And a side benefit for us is we can now foster another baby in the future — something we are both looking forward to.
CatholicCare has been exemplary in the support, care and guidance they have given us during the initial intensive interviewing/education stages and then whilst fostering our little one. The team work very well together: coordinating visits, education sessions and disseminating information via their regular newsletters. We would have no hesitation in recommending CatholicCare and the team to anyone considering fostering in the future.”
From Robert: “Well I thought I had better give the wife a bit of support in her quest to satisfy her mothering instinct again after such a long break from our boys. So along came this little baby boy. “Yeah I’ll help you out if you want”, I thought. Well I think it took him all of about 1/2 an hour to get me in. He was just magnificent. I enjoy a challenge and this experience has certainly been that, an enjoyable challenge. The positive experiences that our little man has given my wife and I are immeasurable. He not only bought us closer together but also our sons and family had much input into loving and caring for him. I want to be a foster father again.”
Robert and Cheryl, Foster Carers
“The arrival of our little man has changed the course of our lives. The joy that he has brought us sure outweighs the difficult times. We can’t imagine our lives without him, knowing the comfort and security that he is finally feeling. The level of training and ongoing support we received from CatholicCare was invaluable.”
Shane and Karen, Foster Carers
“When I was asked to write a piece on my first year of fostering newborns, to be perfectly honest I didn’t know what to write. How do you put into words the feelings and emotions of the past year? There have been lots of ups and downs just like a rollercoaster ride but did I want to get off? No way!
I remember twelve months ago when we were finishing our training being asked how being foster carers was going to impact on our lives. Naively I said, “Ahh not much. Our lives revolve around kids so not much will change.” How wrong I was. How can it not change when you are giving so much of yourself, your immediate family and extended family to helping and loving little bubbies?
A lot of people have asked me during the past year, “How do you do it” My honest answer is “How can I not?!” This is what I feel I was born to do. Fostering is not for everyone. I am definitely not a hard person — strong I suppose but definitely a’ sookie la la’ (as my kids call it). We have had two little babies come and go during the past year and I will admit that after receiving the phone calls saying that they were moving on I have broken down in tears and seriously questioned whether I can continue fostering and putting myself, my husband, kids and extended family through the trauma of saying goodbye again to one of my babies. This is the only part of fostering that I truly hate. I often need to remind myself that they are not ‘my babies’ but gifts on loan to love and cherish. Shane (my husband) always laughs at me because by the following day I am already talking about and excited by the prospect of getting another call and my thoughts of giving up fostering are well and truly gone.
It is an amazing feeling being handed a brand new special little person to love and look after. I feel very privileged to be able to do this. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing the Community Services and CatholicCare have given Shane and myself a big tick as parents and put their trust in us with these very precious little children.”
Tania, Foster Carer
My wife Cheryl and I have one beautiful daughter and had wanted more kids - but it wasn’t to be. After trying and considering all of our options we had all but given up. We had considered Foster Care, but I was scared that it would be too overwhelming. See I thought all kids would have all the same problems and all of them would be extremely hard to handle. But like pregnancy every case is different. The children that Centacare (now CatholicCare) deal with still may have problems due to social or physical neglect, but they are good kids who are just after someone who will care and guide them.
At every stage in the assessment process, be it training or home visits, the team at CatholicCare were very helpful. They helped us, as a family, to understand and prepare for the potential placement of a child in our care. They were compassionate and yet brutally honest, but nothing could prepare us for the emotional roller coaster that was about to follow!
We have welcomed a girl whom we call Taz into our family. Her nickname is Taz because of her similarity to the whirlwind created by the cartoon Tasmanian Devil! We have had the privilege of being able to give Taz many experiences she might not otherwise have had such as snow skiing, trout fishing (because she told me she was the best fisher person ever), riding a cow (yes that’s right a cow), and her first ever plane flight to the Gold Coast and the theme parks. This is not about spoiling her, it is about us living our lives and showing her how life can be. As a Foster Carer, you must still be able to live your lives and share your experiences with the children that are placed in your care.
We have seen Taz change since the day that she arrived and we are so pleased that we have been able to have a positive influence on her, something that even her family has commented on to us. While we don’t see her parents, we do talk to her grandmother regularly and discuss what is happening and arrange visits. We are in a unique position, because we are able to get information on her history that may not normally be available.
Being a Foster Care parent has been extremely rewarding and we get so much back from what we do. Our daughter who is 12, has also grown personally and emotionally and has developed her assertiveness skills. She is a compassionate child who has made Taz feel welcomed. It is nice when we hear them call each other sisters. They are just like siblings, and at times show all the normal emotions that siblings do towards each other. This is a good thing as it teaches both of them that we are different and we need to respect each other.
Finally I would also like to mention the Foster Care team at CatholicCare. These people are amazing. They are there for us 24hrs a day if we need them. They come to our house about once a month and ensure that Taz is happy and that all is as it should be. They provide us with a support service, in that I/we can call them and discuss any issue that arises, including when our feelings are challenged or we need advice on how to deal with an issue. Without Craig, Carol, Kim and Kathryn, I am not sure that we would have been as successful as we have been with our first placement. It is through the generosity and consideration of each of these individual,s with the sharing of their time and information that we have got such a healthy respect and optimistic outlook for Foster Care. To them I would like to add a HUGE THANK YOU.
Shane, Foster Carer
Our Kids
“When I first came to this family I could not read, write or count. Allthough it changed quickly because Mum and Dad and my sister helped me develop it. I had trouble hearing and took me a while to get instructions through my head. I did not like the food we were given, because we weren’t used to it, but now we love it. In lots of report cards it said I tried real hard at school.
I was a bit sad at first learning about foster parents until I came here to this family, because I knew I was going to stay here until I’m 18. When I get older I am going to university and then to the army. After the army I am going to the RSPCA. I am also going to do first class football. I am doing well and love my Dad, Mum, 8 brothers, two sisters, Mummy K, Daddy R and my big brother.”
D.J (12)
“My family does newborn foster care. This means that we take care of little newborn babies until their Mum or Dad is ready to take them back or until they go into long term foster care or are adopted.
It takes about 6 months to be properly trained to be a foster care family. We have to be taught how to handle all types of babies and their problems and who to call when something goes wrong. The trainer had to come to my house weekly and interview my Mum and Dad, my two big sisters, my annoying big brother and me. They ask many questions such as whether we want out family to go through with it, if we like babies and if we thought our family could cope. And of course I said YES!!
We are all very sad when our babies leave us and we really miss them but it doesn’t take very long to get another call for another baby for our family to help and love. It is also nice to just be our a family for a little while, while we are waiting for the call but when the call comes we all get very excited.”
Kiara (11)
Well, my Mum asked me to write an article to tell other people of our experience with Foster Care. I thought about it and thought about it and suddenly it hit me. The reason my family does Foster Care is because we have so much love to give. The love we give to children who come into our home is one that cannot be replaced and I wouldn’t stop giving for the world. From the word go, my family has loved and cared for each and every foster child who has come into our household. When we don’t have a child we want one and every time my sisters and I arrive at home from school we anxiously enter the house hoping on the world that there is a new bundle of joy for us to give our love to.
I have seen things that have shocked me such as babies who have been addicted to dozens of drugs at birth. My friends ask me, “Do you like doing Foster Care?” At first I was unsure of what to answer to that but now I realise that I love it and I hope to one day be a Foster Parent myself when I grow up. I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for an interesting way to brighten up their life one tiny footstep at a time.
Matthew (14)
Our Staff
“Every child deserves to feel safe, loved and important to someone. I like to think my role as a Caseworker helps achieve that.”
Katrina, Caseworker
“Working alongside carers is an extremely rewarding and humbling experience. I am in awe of how dedicated, caring and patient carers can be. It fills me with hope and enormous satisfaction to see a child placed in a family home that is both nurturing and loving.”
Carol, Caseworker
“I use my own analogy of a canoe when working with carers and children. We are all paddling in the same direction, therefore its important we work as a team as we paddle otherwise we do not progress to our destination — this destination being our children’s future”
Carolyn, Caseworker
“Children, Carers and CatholicCare working together to provide a safe, caring, supported loving environment”
Rebecca, Caseworker
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