Hetty Johnson says only small percentage of foster carers in it for financial gain

QUEENSLAND’S leading child protection advocate says only a small percentage of foster carers exploit the system for financial gain and more people should “put up their hand and help these kids”.

QUEENSLAND’S leading child protection advocate has warned of a small group of foster carers who exploit the system for lucrative benefits.

Under Queensland law, foster and kinship carers are entitled to fortnightly and hefty one-off payments to cover the costs of food, clothing and other provisions.

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Caring allowances up to $550.74 a fortnight are available and special needs allowances can exceed $642 a fortnight. Each payment ­increases as a foster child grows older.

Bravehearts founder and chairwoman Hetty Johnston told The Courier-Mail while “99 per cent” of foster carers were good people, there were those in it for the money.

“We do hear that there are carers who are in the system for the wrong reasons,” Ms Johnston said. “You always have a few bad eggs and there’s no doubt that the foster care system can be used as a financial income stream.”

Child protection advocate Hetty Johnson wants children’s boarding homes to stop kids being “bounced” from one place to another. Picture: Jack Tran

Ms Johnston said that a small percentage of foster carers were in it purely for mercenary reasons.

“These people’s motivation isn’t always altruistic and it is evil,” she said.

“But for the most part foster carers are really good people who are doing enormously valuable work and we need them to understand how important they are to the ­system.”

Ms Johnston warned that the system was lacking people willing to take in a foster child.

“It is a very difficult job to be a foster carer, it’s not a job for everybody but we need more people to put up their hand and help these kids,” she said.

She called on the Government to consider establishing stable children’s boarding homes to stop kids being “bounced” from one place to another.

“If a boarding placement, particularly for children with challenging needs, is run properly with the right amount of parenting, policy and procedure, we could reduce the number of kids being moved from place to place.

“These kids get shopped around from home to home or they’re left in really dangerous situations because that’s better than removing them, but that’s not in the best interests of the child,” she said.