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Becoming a Carer.
- Foster Care is the care that families provide for children, who, for whatever reason, are unable to live with their families.

The goal of foster care is for the child/children to be returned to the care of their own family. This is called reunification.
- However, if this is not possible, foster carers become involved in assisting the child maintain strong and positive links with their families.
- When you foster a child, you do not have guardianship of that child. Depending on the circumstances, the child's parents may have full legal rights and responsibilities over the child or the child may be under an order, which means that the Minister of Family and Youth Services (FAYS) is the guardian of the child.
- (Guardianship refers to who can legally make decisions affecting a child's wellbeing.)

The Role of a Foster Carer.
The role of a foster carer is primarily to provide a secure, stable and positive environment that caters for the physical and emotional needs of a child who is not able to live with his/her birth family for whatever reason or length of time.
- A foster carer must promote the child's self esteem and identity.
- AFSS Foster Carers play a vital role in helping the children maintain strong links with their Aboriginal culture and heritage.
- A foster carer assists in maintaining links with the child's birth family and working towards the child returning home. This is called reunification.
- A foster carer has the role of teacher and 'parent' in order to teach a child the skills necessary to relate and live with families and society; to achieve their potential as human beings and ultimately gain independence and self reliance.
- Foster carers work with AFSS Family Support Officers and form part of a larger team which includes social workers, teachers, doctors, psychologists who all work together to assist in the growth of the child.
- Foster carers receive a subsidy allowance to support them caring for children. This payment is not a wage for the carer, it is a contribution towards the child's expenses. The amount of payment depends on the age of the child and if the child has any special needs or disabilities.
- The payment consists of a basic subsidy and additional allowance. The basic subsidy is a contribution towards general household expenses such as food, electricity, gas, telephone, entertainment. The additional allowance is for items such as pocket money, clothing, medical expenses and recurrent costs. Foster carers also receive an educational allowance every term which covers such things as school fees, books and uniforms.

AFSS Role In Foster Care
- AFSS recruits, trains and supports foster carers. AFSS has Family Support Officers who work directly with foster carers to assist them in their role of caring for children.
- AFSS Family Support Officers will assist carers in carrying out the strategies devised for the child's return to their family if this is the plan.
- AFSS provides initial training for carers to introduce the foster care system, the legal system and the financial support provided to foster carers. Training is also provided on information about the reasons children need care and the management of difficult behaviour. AFSS also provides ongoing monthly training for foster carers.
- It is a condition of ongoing approval that carers attend at least three training sessions per year.
AFSS also links up with our carers so they can provide each other with support. This happens in regular coffee chit chat meetings.

Aboriginal Family Support Service

Electronic mail afss@afss.com.au

ABN: 82 853 278 164