A word from our Executive Director

September 28, 2024

I had not run a foster care service prior to joining CatholicCare, but I had managed other types of programs for children in Out of Home Care. I knew from my experience that kids in foster care almost always thrived, whereas the kids who did not have foster carers and were reliant on a rotating roster of professional staff to look after them in an “intensive placement” typically didn’t.

I knew that it was almost ten times cheaper for the Government, and therefore taxpayers, to fund a foster care placement for a child than an intensive placement. And I also knew that in NSW, as in all other states and territories of Australia, the number of foster carers was declining at a time when the number of children needing a foster care placement was either staying the same or increasing.

I struggled to reconcile these things in my mind. If foster care yielded the best results for children and young people and was the most cost-effective placement option by far, why were the numbers of foster carers dwindling? Was it because the Government and foster care providers were not effectively promoting the need for carers well enough? Had the requirements to become a foster carer become too stringent? Or were people now just so focused on themselves and their own families that they didn’t have the bandwidth to consider supporting a child in need?

Despite knowing all this, I commenced my new role at CatholicCare in 2020 with a sense of optimism that we could attract new foster carers and provide stable, loving homes to children in need across the Diocese. My optimism was rooted in my knowledge of other things:

• The foundational Catholic principle of the sacredness and dignity of every human life
• The immense value placed by Catholics on families
• The Catholic preference for the poor
• And the long, rich tradition of Catholic institutions providing care for orphans.

I am now four years into my tenure at CatholicCare and I am saddened to say that it appears my optimism was misplaced. During this time I have learnt that CatholicCare has invested considerable effort and money promoting our need for foster carers across the Diocese – through mainstream and social media, and also by directly engaging with Parish communities. And I have learnt that the opportunity to become a foster carer is open to most people – it doesn’t matter if you are single or a couple, young or older, have kids of your own or not, are employed or unemployed or if you rent or own your own home. Despite this, I can count on one hand the number of foster carer applications we have received over the past four years from people associated with the church in our Diocese.

We desperately need foster carers to care for children and young people across all parts of the Diocese – the Northern Beaches, North Shore and the Central Coast.

I am going to be bold and ask … will you consider being a foster carer?

Can I be even bolder and ask that for the next 30 seconds you stop reading this article, close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and think about that question.

I am guessing your mind filled with varied reasons as to why you cannot, or should not be a foster carer. Some or all of these reasons could very well be significant.

And if you would indulge me once more. Can you close your eyes again, breathe deeply, still your mind, and provide God with an opportunity to talk to you.

There is no denying that being a foster carer can be difficult. Raising children usually is. But know this. God has a heart for vulnerable children. It’s clear from numerous passages in the Holy Scripture that God encourages Christians to look after children in need. Through the prophet Isaiah, God commands His people to “Defend the cause of the fatherless”. And St James instructs us to show up for orphans and widows in their distress. But even more than this, caring for vulnerable children isn’t just something God wants us to do. To care for the most vulnerable is a reflection of God’s character. It is the very nature of God.

Because this is God’s nature, and because He has instructed us to care for vulnerable children, I am confident that He will ensure you are provided with every encouragement, every resource, and the patience, wisdom and strength that you will need to care for one of His precious children should you respond and say you are willing to be a foster carer.

Please contact Sandra in our foster care team on (02) 9481 2600, email info@catholiccaredbb.org.au or visit our website here.