If you’re thinking about becoming a foster carer, you’re one step closer to becoming one. For many people, it can take months or years to decide to foster. Even if you’ve not yet made up your mind, there’s plenty of opportunities to research and determine if it’s right for you.
There’s no set timeline on how long it takes to become a foster carer – everyone’s journey is different. However, the steps of your journey will be all about making sure that children and young people in care have a safe environment to call home. Here’s what the journey to becoming a foster carer might look like for you.
Join an information session
Our teams host information sessions – some of our service centres may be running in-person events or you can attend our Online Information Session. These sessions can give you a good idea of how foster care works. Once you’ve attended a session, you’ll have a better understanding of whether fostering is right for you (maybe it’s something you’re not ready for yet, and that’s okay too).
Get in touch
To get in touch with our team, you can fill out our online expression of interest form or call us on 1300 000 828. This is a good time to ask any questions you may have. While reaching out might seem like a huge step, it’s important to know that you’re not going to have a young person in your home straight away.
Interviews
Our priority is to make sure that the children and young people in foster care have a safe, stable place to live, so after you get in touch, and if you decide you want to proceed, we’ll start the process of getting to know you. This will include a range of interviews so that we can get an idea of what sorts of placements will suit you. For instance, whether you’d like to do respite, emergency or primary care, and whether you have preferences about factors like the age and gender of children you’d like to care for.
Training
Being a foster carer can be different from parenting your own children. A lot of children who come into foster care will have gone through trauma or hardship that may not be familiar to you. That’s why you’ll go through mandatory training before you’re approved as a carer. Once you’re approved, there will be ongoing training and you may choose to complete extra training, too.
Personal history
You’ll need to undertake background and personal history checks, and apply for a Blue Card. All adults living in the home must obtain a Blue Card and undergo the same checks. We can support you to fill out the paperwork for this to make the process as easy as possible.
Assessment
When you’re ready to be reviewed by a foster care assessor, they’ll come to your home to get to know you and your family dynamic. This will help them to understand how foster care will work for you. The assessor will try to establish and confirm if applicants are in a good place in their lives to provide care and that they’re able to meet the needs of children. They’ll submit a report to the foster care panel, and they will make the final decision on whether to approve carers or not. Sometimes the panel may need further information before the approval goes ahead, so they may ask you for more information before making a decision.
So, how long does the whole process take?
The timeframe for the approval process depends on your availability for interviews, how long it takes to do background checks and a variety of other factors. Usually, it takes 6-12 months.
The process is different for everyone, but you’ll be guided and supported by Anglicare Southern Queensland throughout the whole process. Whether you need help with paperwork or aren’t sure how to talk to your children about becoming foster carers, we’re here to help you.