{"id":123369,"date":"2026-06-20T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=123369"},"modified":"2026-06-17T19:14:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:14:53","slug":"supporting-children-young-peoplein-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting children, young peoplein care"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAFS has launched its End of Financial Year appeal to support children and carers.<\/p>\n

The child and family service organisation uses every dollar raised through the appeal to provide assistance in the Ballarat and Central Highlands regions.<\/p>\n

CEO Wendy Sturgess said the focus is on helping children and young people in care and ensuring their carers receive the guidance and resources they need.<\/p>\n

“At the heart of this appeal are local children and young people who need safety, stability, and the chance to thrive,” Sturgess said.<\/p>\n

“Government funding supports many essential services, but important gaps remain, particularly in the extras that can make a real difference to a child’s wellbeing, confidence, and sense of belonging.”<\/p>\n

Funds raised through the appeal will provide items and opportunities falling outside formal funding, including clothing, essential items, and participation in everyday experiences.<\/p>\n

Sturgess said that as cost-of-living pressures increase, community support plays an important role in ensuring both children and carers are well supported.<\/p>\n

“This is about community coming together in a very real and local way,” Sturgess said.<\/p>\n

“Together, we can be the difference in a child’s life, right here in our own region.”<\/p>\n

Cafs’ foster and kinship carers will gain support from the appeal with training to ensure they feel confident and equipped to provide safe, nurturing homes.<\/p>\n

“Behind every child in care is a carer walking alongside them,” Sturgess said.<\/p>\n

“When we support carers, we strengthen the care and stability that children receive every day.”<\/p>\n

Cafs has delivered foster care, family support and therapeutic services for more than 160 years, and has bases in Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Ararat and Daylesford.<\/p>\n

To learn more or donate, visit cafs.org.au\/give-gift-grow\/donate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAFS has launched its End of Financial Year appeal to support children and carers. The child and family service organisation uses every dollar raised through the appeal to provide assistance in the Ballarat and Central Highlands regions. CEO Wendy Sturgess said the focus is on helping children and young people in care and ensuring their […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":123371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-123369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSupporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandra James\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandra James\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sandra James\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a0c5b31d59e28a69f8971339b37c030\"},\"headline\":\"Supporting children, young peoplein care\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Cafs CEO Wendy Sturgess said every dollar raised in the EOFY appeal supports children and young people in the Ballarat and Central Highlands regions. Photo: Edwina Williams\\\/file.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supporting children, young peoplein care\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"width\":739,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Ballarat Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a0c5b31d59e28a69f8971339b37c030\",\"name\":\"Sandra James\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/sandra\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times","description":"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times","og_description":"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/","og_site_name":"Ballarat Times","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sandra James","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sandra James","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/"},"author":{"name":"Sandra James","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/2a0c5b31d59e28a69f8971339b37c030"},"headline":"Supporting children, young peoplein care","datePublished":"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/"},"wordCount":286,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/","name":"Supporting children, young peoplein care - Ballarat Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-19T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Support children in care and local foster families. Donate to Cafs' EOFY appeal to help provide essentials in Central Highlands.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/06\/TNG-17-06-50.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Cafs CEO Wendy Sturgess said every dollar raised in the EOFY appeal supports children and young people in the Ballarat and Central Highlands regions. Photo: Edwina Williams\/file."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/supporting-children-young-peoplein-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supporting children, young peoplein care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","name":"Ballarat Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization","name":"Ballarat Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","width":739,"height":98,"caption":"Ballarat Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/2a0c5b31d59e28a69f8971339b37c030","name":"Sandra James","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/author\/sandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123369"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=123369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}