WELCOME

Hi and welcome !

If you are considering becoming a foster carer, embarking on becoming a relative carer or foster carer or already a foster carer then this blog is designed for you.

I am a foster carer in Australia and have been caring for 12 years. I will not be referring to my foster daughter by name – this is both out of respect and for privacy reasons. For the purpose of this blog, she will be C. C is a loving, caring, fun, active nearly 15 year old

I also have a 16 year old daughter who has the biggest heart I know and is absolutely part of the carer journey as C's foster sister.

The reason I decided to start this blog is because I also have over a decade of experience in the child protection and out-of-home-care. I had the privilege of designing and implementing programs and projects to help more children stay home safely. I lead the co-design of the foster carer recruitment and retention in NSW (an ongoing space requiring more innovation). I have also consulted to support hundreds of children in NSW to have improved permanency through connections and stability.

As a carer I regularly find myself googling for solutions for some of the day to day challenges (or month to month) to support my caring role. My own experience is that I often struggle to find what I am looking for or spend too much time (which I don’t have) researching solutions. Like all carers, I have had a mix of good and bad days as I try my best to prioritise all of our needs in our family.

I hope that combining my ‘sector knowledge’ and own experience as a foster carer, I can make some of your days a bit easier by providing context, research and ideas to help you in your caring role/s.

Thanks for finding me and please do share with friends and post your thoughts to help create a thriving , connected and empowered community of carers.