Centacare specialist foster care program gives babies a safe home away from home

Sarah and Jordan spent five months with baby Katie, but their love changed her life.

Baby Katie* spent just five months with Sarah and Jordan but their love changed the course of her life.

The little girl was taken into state care at just three months of age and placed with the couple, who are specialist foster carers.

Their goal is to give struggling parents the time and space to make changes needed to get at-risk children back home.

By eight months old Katie was able to return safely to her mother.

Foster carers Sarah and Jordan have a mission - to get the babies and kids they look after back to their families when safe. Picture: Russell Millard

“We do feel that ache when they leave but we also have that massive high because they’ve actually gone back to where their place is in the world,” Sarah, 24, said.

“When she first came to us she was holding up her head fine but it was a bit wobbly. By the time she left she was nearly crawling.

“Taking her to doctor’s appointments when she had her vaccinations, we took her away with us camping ... just watching her milestones was amazing.”

Each year about 1000 children are taken into state care for the first time.

Last financial year 250 families were involved in government-funded programs designed to reunite parents with children in the system.

However, the Child Protection Department did not answer questions from The Advertiser about how many children actually returned home, or how many who are reunited have to be removed again later in life.

The Advertiser’s Save Our Kids campaign is lobbying for improvements to the child protection system following the high-profile deaths of two children known to authorities.

Sarah and husband Jordan, 26, are part of Centacare’s specialist reunification program, which is the only one of its kind in the state.

Sarah and Jordan with their puppies Juniper and Willow. Picture: Russell Millard

Its carers sometimes pick infants up from hospital after birth and care for children for up to 18 months.

At the same time Centacare offers support to the birth parents to make changes.

“It is almost just as rewarding watching the parents grow ... watching them get to the point where they’re finally able to be reunified,” Sarah said.

Jordan said the couple had maintained a relationship with Katie’s mum and “had the privilege of being able to babysit her” since she returned home.

“She’s a special little girl to us,” he said. “When you hear the statistics in South Australia alone about how many kids are in need of homes it’s just astronomical.

“You feel like you’ve not only helped a family come together but you’ve helped future generations.

“(Katie) is now going to go back to a family that really knows how to care for their little one.”

Child Protection Department deputy chief executive Fiona Ward said the government had allocated $57.4m over nine years to non-government organisations offering family reunification services.

*Not her real name