The process of becoming a carer involves several steps to ensure safety for the child and the applicant/s being able to demonstrate that they are able to meet the criteria or competencies. You can read more about fostering on the website.

The assessor will get to know you and your family through a series of interviews to assess your suitability to foster. The assessor is looking for evidence that you are able to care for children in the care of Communities. The questions relate to your family background, parenting and other child-care experience, and other skills that show that you can care for children safely. This will be fully explained on the first home visit.

The process of becoming a carer involves several steps and can take several months, as Communities needs to assess safety and competency to foster. Applicants are required to complete Preparation training.

Preparation training (19 hours) is compulsory for you and your partner in order to be approved as foster carers. Preparation training is offered flexibly so that even FIFO or shift workers can complete the training via a self-paced package if unable to attend in person. Owing to the COVID-19 restrictions, some restrictions may apply. Your assessor will be able to provide you with all the details you need in order for you to enrol in the training.

Once the assessment report and all checks have been completed, the assessor will submit the report to the approval committee /panel with a recommendation to Communities about whether you should be approved as a foster carer. If you are approved, you will receive a letter, a certificate and a worker from the local District will contact you to sign an agreement with Communities and start your fostering journey.

Once you have a child placed with you, you will be contacted by the child’s worker and a worker who will support you as a carer. The child’s worker is required to see the child every four months. Communities requires that all foster carers must undergo a review annually. Your workers and you may have much more frequent contact depending on the complexity and needs of the placement and the level of support you need as a carer.

Your capacity to care for any number of children and your ability to meet the needs of each child is determined through the assessment process in discussion with your assessor. There is a great need for carers who can provide care for sibling groups.

A child’s best place is with their family, and Communities needs to assess the child’s parents’ capacity to care for the child again. In some cases, the Children’s Court may extend or vary legal orders to ensure that the child’s safety is maintained. Communities engages with the parents to support reunification processes if this is determined to be in the best interest of the child. Foster carers have a role in supporting this work.

The child’s wellbeing is the central focus of work, the best outcomes for children occur when foster families and birth families can work together with Communities.

The child will usually have contact with his/her parents at a separate venue to your home, but close work between the foster carer and birth parents is expected. Department workers will supervise contact when the child is at risk of harm by the parent. All carers are asked to use the Communication Book which is passed between the carer and the parents when the child goes for contact visits.

Experienced, confident and skilled foster carers have been involved with birth parents, and there are many examples of how this has benefited the child. Newly approved foster carers need support, knowledge and skills in undertaking this type of work.

For your privacy, your address is not given to the child’s family unless you have given permission. You need to be aware that the child may disclose your address and other personal information to others including their families.

As over half of children in care are Aboriginal, it is very likely that you will be asked to care for an Aboriginal child. As a foster carer you will be expected to maintain cultural exposure which will be guided by the child’s cultural plan, supporting family connections, return to country (as relevant and appropriate), attending local events and relevant training. Each District has access to an Aboriginal Practice Leader who will be able to provide support and guidance.

This will depend on the length of the care arrangement and the needs of the child. If the child is staying with you for a short period of time, there will be no change of school so the child can continue to have contact with familiar people and places. For a long-term care arrangement, a move to a local school may be supported.

As a foster carer, you will be asked to transport the child to school. Additional money for mileage may be claimed if the school is not in the local area. If transport cannot be managed, please discuss your concerns with the child’s worker.

Most children in care attend government schools. A private school may be supported if the foster care arrangement is long-term or if there is another significant reason why the child cannot attend a government school. A decision would be made based on the best interests of the child, but this is not the usual practice.

Foster children may benefit greatly from a family holiday. You will need to seek permission from Communities via the child’s worker before you make any bookings. If there are any travel restrictions in place, other arrangements for the foster child will need to be organised. Plans for any overseas travel need to be discussed with a case worker well in advance, as it can be a very long process to obtain a passport for a foster child.

You are encouraged to include the child in all your family outings and interests. In most instances you can take the child along to any family activities; however, if the birth parents have a strong objection to a particular activity, the parents’ wishes would be considered and attendance at the activity be negotiated. An older child’s views must be considered.

Communities may pay for some daycare; however, it may not be in the child’s best interest to attend. The child’s age and other needs will be considered. If day care is supported, carers are expected to apply for any government child-care rebates.

You are expected to have sufficient equipment to care for the child in your nominated age group. Sometimes, especially in emergency situations, you can be supported with equipment.

If family or friends are staying at your house for a period of time, they are considered part of your household and must have a Record Screening Check. Once you are aware that your visitors will be staying, you must inform the child’s worker.

It is in the best interests of the child to experience age-appropriate activities. If this experience will benefit the child and there are no risks involved, you will need to advise your child’s worker.

Foster carers are volunteers and are paid a contribution to the cost of caring in the form of a fortnightly subsidy. The amount of the subsidy depends on the age and needs of the child/young person. This subsidy is not taxable as it is a reimbursement for expenses that you have incurred. It is not an income but covers costs for items such as food and gas/electricity.

Foster carers sometimes need regular breaks to maintain a placement; however, owing to the shortage of carers, this arrangement may not always be possible. It is recommended that the carers source someone in their network who may be interested in fostering a child who is placed with you. They will also need to undergo the assessment process. Children can also attend camps during school holidays which are provided by approved community organisations. These and other arrangements need to be discussed with the child’s worker prior to arrangements being made.

Carers are invited to ongoing training each year which is offered by their District and the Learning and Development Division. A training calendar is sent out to carers to advise them of the topics for the year. Training is offered in the daytime and evenings.

The Care Team Approach outlines how Communities works with carers. Carers are supported to formally participate as a team member in assessment, planning and review of the child, and to participate in other child-centred decision making based on the best interests of the child.

You will be primarily supported by the child’s worker and a worker who will support you as a carer from the child’s Care Team. You will be invited to regular functions by the Districts, such as coffee mornings so you can meet other carers.

Foster Care Association of WA (Inc) provides an advocacy service for all foster carers through a 24-hour phone service, giving support and advice to individuals. Members receive newsletters and invitations to special events.

Communities has contracted a state-wide counselling service to support carers. Sessions are free and confidential.

Permanent foster care arrangements may be possible if:

• The child is in the CEO’s care via a protection order (time-limited or until 18).
• Carers have had the continuous care of the child for at least two years from the time the protection order (time limited or until 18) was granted.

An SGO is an order of the Children’s Court transferring parental responsibility to a specific person until the child turns 18. This may be an option if you would like to make a commitment to caring for the child permanently. You may make an application to the Children’s Court after the child has been in your care for a minimum of 2 years.

Communities may also apply for an SGO on your behalf and will be involved in the Court process as well. You or Communities may also apply to the Court for a payment to be made which is of similar amount to the subsidy you receive for the child.

Adoption is very different to fostering and it is guided by a separate Act, the Adoption Act. Interested people should make enquiries through the child’s worker.

The focus for any child is reunification with family, however, in very few cases, where the family has agreed to relinquishment, carers may be supported to apply to adopt the child they are fostering.
Adoption is a service that provides a family for a child who is unable, for a range of reasons, to live with their birth parents. It is a permanent legal arrangement (finalised by an Adoption Order from the Family Court of Western Australia, or an overseas Order recognised by the Family Court) that cuts a child’s legal ties with their birth family. Full parental rights and responsibilities are given to the adoptive family. This means the birth parents no longer have legal rights over the child and cannot claim back the child. The child becomes a full member of the adoptive family. This includes taking their surname and assuming the same rights and privileges as if born to them, including the right of inheritance.

Adoptions, including the adoption of children from overseas, are arranged within a highly regulated framework. The Adoption Act 1994 which guides the provision of adoption services in Western Australia is based upon the central principle of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – that the best interests of the child are paramount.

The Act also gives effect to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect to Intercountry Adoption. In Western Australia, the Department of Communities (Communities) is the only agency allowed to arrange adoptions.

The undesirable consequences of past adoption practices, which were shrouded in secrecy, have led to changes in adoption law both nationally and internationally. Western Australian legislation endorses ‘open adoption’ which recognises a child’s birth parentage and cultural origins and promotes contact between the parties to adoption is encouraged where this is possible and appropriate.

Due to changing social and economic conditions, the number of children in need of adoption both locally and from overseas has diminished in recent years. On average there are five to eight adoptions of locally-born children and between six and 10 intercountry adoptions in Western Australia each year.

Increasingly, the children being offered for adoption have varying degrees of special needs. For these reasons, Communities is encouraging prospective adoptive parents to consider alternate ways of opening their homes and their hearts to children who cannot be raised by their parents.