James Craigie has been a foster parent, along with his wife Karen, manager of CAPS, for almost three years.
How many children have you fostered since starting in 2011? Eight.
Tell us a bit about the type of foster care you provide and the options there are for foster carers… We provide crisis care and respite. Respite is planned care for existing foster carers that need a break. Crisis care is needed for children in immediate risk. After children are removed from home they go into crisis care while the department of community services finds a short-term placement.
Short-term placements can last for many months while the courts decide if a child can go home or needs to be put into long-term care. If a court determines that a child cannot ever be safe at home they are placed in to long-term care with long-term carers. This could be with a family member (known as kinship care) or a foster carer.
What are the main issues facing foster carers in Australia today? The main issue that I find challenging is the lack of information. As a crisis carer we often don’t get any information. We don’t know about schooling, child care, allergies, medical history. It’s very difficult to navigate through the system when everything is up in the air for the child.
It is an emotional roller coaster at times and maintaining emotional boundaries can be hard. We might get a child dropped off on a Friday night expecting they will only be with us for a weekend, but they end up staying for six weeks and you have to plan on the fly – and they become part of the family. We have also had placements that we have expected to continue, and have been planned to continue, but then they end abruptly because there is a change in family circumstance which we have no knowledge about.
How do you think these issues could be resolved? More resources for the department, better funding, better guidelines and policies. Better education for parents, more regular updates for carers. Better communication between the department and foster carers and more centralised communication between carers and the department.
What has been the best thing about being a foster carer? Making the kids happy, keeping them safe, and possibly making a small difference and a long-term memory of a nice time in their life. The end goal is getting them back to their parents and we have been involved with that transition before which is a great success.
What has been the hardest thing? Watching the kids leave, not always knowing where they are going or who they are going to be with. That has a big emotional impact on us and on our son. It’s hard to say goodbye.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a foster carer? Be fully prepared for all types of emotions, not only from yourself but from the kids. Be prepared to keep an open mind and don’t judge. Prepare yourself for good times and sad times and ensure that you can deal with the stress and emotion of it.
For more information on fostering www.fosteringnsw.com.au is a good place to start.
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