Permanence of Love

CARER FEATURE permanence of love

The gift of love and support through care.

When Sue began her foster care journey ten years ago, it wasn't something she set out to do.

"I was a team manager for a sports club, and one of the kids on my son's team was in care.

"They formed a great friendship, and for this young person to spend time at our home, I needed to do a course to become qualified so my son could have a friendship with this really nice boy."

Fast forward ten years, with her children all grown up now, Sue continues to be a carer with the Samaritans. "The rewards are so different to when I first began caring. For example, a young boy who had been trying to learn to ride a bike for years asked me to take his training wheels off his bike.

The expression and pride on his face was my biggest reward; watching him ride down the street and scream "Look at me!" was pretty powerful."

The Samaritans Permanency Support Program (PSP) is a funded program through the Department of Communities and Justice to support children and young people aged 0 – 18 who are in Out of Home Care.

The permanency program is based on the ethos of achieving the goal of keeping children and young people connected to their networks, including their carers, families and significant others in their lives.

"Foster carers are critical in keeping children and young people connected to their families and supporting them in maintaining and creating lifelong relationships," says Shane Reed, Samaritans General Manager Permanency Support Program.

"The primary focus for our carers is to have people who can support a range of networks for each of the children and young people, inclusive of formal (school, doctors, psychologists) as well as informal (family, significant others, friends)."

The Samaritans PSP has demonstrated excellence in supporting children and young people to achieve permanency outcomes inclusive of guardianship, restoration, and adoption. In addition, the program offers ongoing support and training for the people in the program.

"In the past 12 months, we have supported eight children to be restored to their parents. But, more broadly, we have also supported children move from living with carers to being placed within family arrangements.”

Chantelle Scheibel is the Community Services Manager of the Permanency Support Program and says that people choose to become carers for various reasons. "Some people wish to extend their parenting beyond when their own children have grown up; some people want to give back to society and see caring as an option; some people hear or see the trauma that occurs when children can't live safely with their parents and want to help."

"Given the range of caring options emergency, respite, short–term, long-term – some people can offer different environments for different children.

"For example, we have one set of carers who were assessed as respite carers for the organisation, and the first child they cared for as respite has kept going to their home every second weekend.

"They have decided that this arrangement works for them and the child. It is now a situation where the carers for this child and the respite carers make the arrangements themselves, making it a more normalised experience for them all.”

As part of Newcastle Anglican, Samaritans provides provide a range of foster care arrangements for people considering becoming a carer in the Hunter, New England, Central Coast and Mudgee regions.

Chantelle says, "People interested in becoming carers will undertake an assessment. This assessment will include exploring motivation for caring, understanding trauma and its impacts on development, undertaking police checks and the need to have a Working with Children's check.

"This all supports the young people in care to be provided with a safe and nurturing environment."

Sue reflects on her experience as a foster carer before giving advice to people considering foster care,

"I was very green, very naïve when I started caring for young people, it is not easy, but the rewards are great.

"My advice for anyone contemplating becoming a foster carer is to educate yourself and start small.

"Foster carers are needed desperately, but you need to be realistic, committed and doing it for the right reasons."

If you have questions or would like to register your interest in becoming a foster carer with Samaritans, contact us today by clicking the link and completing the enquiry form Become a foster carer | Samaritans.