Foster care association urges higher allowances

THE Foster Care Association of Victoria (FCAV) has put both major parties on notice ahead of Saturday’s state election to increase allowances for carers.

In a media statement last week, FCAV called for the immediate adjustment of the two lowest levels of carer allowance (levels 1 and 2) to increase the basic carer allowance by an average of $70 per week to meet foster care estimates.

FCAV also wants the client expense reimbursement fund increased and for it to be an easy process for carers to cover all extra necessary costs for the young person in care such as therapy, health needs, extracurricular activities, sport uniforms and additional travel.

Financial strain is consistently the highest priority in the fight to retain good foster carers, according to the responses to the FCAV’s CarerLife surveys.

FCAV says expenses on services such as speech therapy can take weeks to be reimbursed or even be refused, so carers often paid out of their own pockets to avoid the children in their care missing out as well as the associated stress.

Foster carer Kerryn Heazle said she began paying $180 for speech therapy sessions for a six-year-old boy in her care.

“As soon as he came to me, I recognised that he needed that help. When I finally got hold of a worker, I said: ‘You cannot send him to school like this’.

“The response came back no, they wouldn’t fund speech therapy. He was at risk of falling behind from day one, so I organised and paid for an appointment myself.

“In that first session he improved. The agency and the DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) eventually gave permission for his therapy but with the caveat that I continue to pay for it myself. It’s now being covered but I had to do the legwork to get it to this point.”