Target to recruit 50 more foster carers in 2019 for at-risk kids

The state’s child protection boss has set a target to recruit an extra 50 foster carers this year to provide homes for at-risk children.

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The state’s child protection boss has set a target to recruit an extra 50 foster carers this year to provide homes for at-risk children.

It comes after a month-long recruitment campaign by AnglicareSA attracted a record almost 220 new enquiries.

Child Protection Department chief executive Cathy Taylor appearing before Parliament's Budget and Finance Committee at Parliament House. Picture: MATT LOXTON

There are 1838 people actively registered as foster or kinship carers in South Australia.

That number has grown by 121 over the past six months but not fast enough to provide homes for the rising numbers of children being taken into state care.

There are about 500 children and teenagers living in emergency housing or state-run homes, supervised by paid carers each night, who are seeking foster families.

To attract another 50 carers this year, the Child Protection Department has set up a Carer Recruitment and Retention Taskforce to “streamline” the assessment, approval and training process.

Department chief executive Cathy Taylor said children were better off in family-type care that “can give them a greater sense of permanence, stability and belonging”.

Foster or kinship carers, usually relatives of a child, can be aged 25 to 70 and single, married or in same-sex relationships.

AnglicareSA CEO Peter Sandeman said the organisation’s Moments that Matter campaign, run in August last year, drew more enquiries “than ever before” from people in their 30s and 40s.

“There was a noticeable uplift in interest from those with a background in working with children and young people, such as teachers, nurses and child care workers,” he said.

For information on becoming a foster carer, phone 1300 2 FOSTER

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