Limestone Coast foster carer shortage leaves vulnerable children further from home

Regional children already separated from the biological parents are being forced to move away as local foster carers are stretched beyond their limits.

Twenty vulnerable children could not be matched with long-term foster carers within the Limestone Coast last financial year.

Seven more could not be placed in short-term care and a further 19 emergency placements could not be found.

A shortage of foster carers has left local resources stretched beyond their limits, according ac.care, with no other option but to send children unable to live their biological parents further away from home.

Kaitlyn Gasparini is working towards becoming a foster carer to fill the gap.

Mount Gambier's Kaitlyn Gasparini is going through the process of becoming a foster carer. Picture: Jessica Ball

The Mount Gambier woman said she wasn’t ready to have children but had love to give and hoped to help with respite and emergency care.

“I turn 30 this year and I thought it was time to share my life,” Ms Gasparini said.

“Everyone has a right to be loved and cared for and have a safe place.

“I just think about the childhood I had and the love that I have with my family and kids deserve that.

“If I could be that person and be that safe place that they can go to and know that someone else cares then I want to be that person.”

Ms Gasparini is “under no illusion that it’s an easy job” but said a single training session cemented how crucial it was to have carers close to home after seeing four children struggle to find places within an hour.

“That was shocking to me to know that there’s four kids, they were calling around to see if they could place them and they couldn’t,” she said.

“There’s no place for these kids to go.

“I couldn't think of anything worse as a kid, your life is already getting shifted to then have to move to a different city or different town, to different school friends, it’s not fair.

“It’s already confusing enough for them.”

FOSTER CARER SHORTFALL

There are limited options for children to stay within their community once ac.care’s residential care homes and Department for Child Protection premises hit capacity.

Foster care manager Dani Atkinson said it was critical ac.care found more people willing to open their homes and hearts for overnight stays through to long-term placements.

“We have a wonderful network of 92 carer households across the Limestone Coast who provide safe homes and positive relationships for 118 children within the region,” she said.

ac.care foster care manager Dani Atkinson with Mount Gambier carer recruitment and assessment staff Lisa Fry and Mikayla Chivers are urging caring adults in the Limestone Coast to open their hearts and homes to vulnerable children in need of foster care placements. Picture: ac.care

“However, there is a growing number of children coming into state care through no fault of their own and simply not enough carers to meet this demand.

“We need to increase the number of people prepared to protect and care for children in our community, from infants through to teenagers.

“Sadly, without enough carers locally, sometimes children who have been removed from their biological parents to protect their welfare and safety have to then also leave the region, including their schools, sports teams, friends and other connections due to the lack of an available local placement.

“We want to provide opportunities to keep local kids in their community where they can maintain valuable connections.”

THE LOVE OF A FAMILY

Kate and Jeremy Thomas were already raising two daughters when they decided to become foster carers.

Over the past three years the young family have welcomed more than 20 children into their Mount Gambier home.

Kate and Jeremy Thomas have fostered more than 20 children with their own children Jemma and Zoe also contributing to nurturing young visitors to their home. Picture: ac.care

It isn’t easy and Mrs Thomas said doing emergency placements for those similar in age to their children was challenging.

The mum said it was an emotional time when babies they’ve bonded with are reunited with their biological families or moved on to long-term arrangements but providing stability was vital.

“They didn’t really understand the whole concept at the time as our youngest was only three, but then we started accepting short-term placements for babies and that just seemed to work for us,” she said.

“People say ‘I don‘t know how you do it. Don’t you get attached?’ Of course you get attached and there is a bit of grief when the placement ends with short-term care, but there’s also a lot of joy in knowing you’ve given a baby a really good and stable start.

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“It’s really nice to see attachments form with their long-term carers when they go into the right placement, which makes all the sleepless nights worth it just to see them happy, loved and really wanted.”

Mr Thomas said he loved dedicating time with his wife and daughters to nurturing babies and other youngsters in need of a safe and nurturing home environment and urged others to do the same.

“What you get out of it emotionally is fantastic, but it’s more about what the children who come into your care get out of it,” he said.

“If you go into it with an open heart, you‘re going to get more out of it than if you go into it with a closed heart – you have to go in there knowing it’s going to have its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, love that child unconditionally.”

A community forum, Limestone Coast Supporting Vulnerable Children in Our Community, will highlight the shortage at Mount Gambier City Hall at 6pm on Thursday.

Originally published as Limestone Coast foster carer shortage leaves vulnerable children further from home