Carers needed to raise the future

FOSTER Care Week is underway and the aim of the initiative is to encourage people to become a foster carer and welcome a child or teenager into their home.

According to recruitment service Fostering Connections, there is currently a critical regional foster carer shortage, with an average of 1700 Victorian children in out-of-home care at any one time.

Only 97 accredited foster carers are now active in the Central Highlands region, but 525 young people on average are in the foster care system in Western Victoria.

Narelle Kerry is a foster carer of 30 years and has looked after 100 children, 50 of those in Victoria over the last 15 years.

Two permanent and two temporary foster children are currently in Ms Kerry’s care, but she also has a biological daughter and adopted son.

She said foster caring has changed and enriched her life.

“Foster caring is everything to me. If we’re not there for children, then who will be? It’s such a vital thing,” she said.

“Looking after children is to look after our future. If children have no means of learning skills, then there’s no helping us.

“Every child needs a chance of having a stable person in their life.”

Thousands of people under the age of 18 are unable to live with their birth families across the state and need a safe home environment.

Between 2020 and 2021, 12,809 Victorian children were in out-of-home care.

Any person over the age of 21 who has a spare bedroom in their home is eligible to be a foster carer and will be screened appropriately before they are trained and receive their accreditation.

Locally, these people will have support from welfare and support agencies like Cafs.

Fostering Connections is a partnership between the State Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and foster care agencies.

Foster Care Week runs until this Saturday, 17 September.