Posted by Hi and welcome to my blog.
‘It takes a village to raise a child’.
Most of us are very familiar with this African quote and the sentiment behind it. This is even more important when thinking about or already caring for children who are in foster care.
I am a foster carer in Australia and have been caring for 7 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 CC. CC is a loving, caring, fun, active nearly 9 year old who now has a host of lovely friends (I just dropped her at a friend’s birthday party and observed a gaggle of girls very excited to see her), now is doing well at school (not always the case!) and more recently is starting to understand how she can think about things differently (again, only 9 but with help is able to consider other people more).
I also have a 10 year old daughter who has the biggest heart I know.
The reason I decided to start this blog is because I also work in the foster care sector as well so I get an interesting ‘double lens’ perspective.
In my private and work life, I am always curious about what networks of support exist for foster carers (and relative carers). I can find smaller support groups, in-house support groups, state-wide funded support agencies as well as small networks organically grown by carers wanting more carer connection and support. But none that span Australia.
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.
So, armed with plenty of ‘sector knowledge’ as well as my own experience as a foster carer, I decided to write a blog and make it available to everyone.
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 have plenty to post in terms of the A-Z and am really hoping that over time we can form an online repository by sharing your knowledge as well.
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. When posting, please note which state/territory you are in as this well help shape our shared understanding of your view.
The Foster Carer Hub 