What makes a family? Is it purely a biological link or is it based on love?
GLBTI families often have to redefine traditional roles and relationships dictated by society, making them more open to alternative methods of creating a family such as surrogacy, adoption and fostering.
Foster care is a temporary arrangement where a family or individual cares for other people’s children in their own home and can be a rewarding way to expand your family.
The Department for Child Protection (DCP) is responsible for the welfare of children and young people at risk and together with non-government foster care agencies, place children into appropriate households for a variable amount of time.
However, there are always more children in need than households willing to take them on, so DCP and foster care agencies are always looking for more suitable carers.
Foster carers can be single, married, have children of their own or not, be working full-time or retired and yes, even GLBTI people are eligible.
Ellen and Sarah (not their real names) have been foster carers for about 18 months and in that time they have opened their home to approximately 15 young people.
‘We talked about having a family and fostering was one of the options we looked at,’ said Ellen. ‘We did it partly for the family thing but partly to help out- to give something back to the community. We’re both quite active volunteers, so this is what we’re doing at the moment.’
‘For me it was about being able to help young people because when I was a teenager I didn’t really have a lot of people being able to help me,’ adds Sarah.
There are a wide range of reasons why a child may be placed in foster care and those children require varying levels and types of care. Placements can range from 24-hour emergency care, to a few weeks or perhaps a year or more depending on the child’s situation.
Foster carers can nominate their level of involvement, with Ellen and Sarah opting for emergency placements.
‘We signed up to do emergency foster care- providing somewhere safe for a kid to settle down for a little while until a permanent placement was found,’ said Ellen.
‘It is quite varied and I like that. I prefer the short-term care because you get to play an important role in a kid’s life and give them comfort in a time that would normally be a lot of upheaval.’
Ellen and Sarah both agree that while foster care is sometimes challenging, it is also incredibly rewarding.
‘You can’t do it without being willing to give up a lot. It’s a lot of time, a lot of emotional involvement but the rewards make it worthwhile,’ said Ellen.
‘The best thing is not an immediate gratification but knowing that you’ve helped them- just being a positive influence and helping shape someone,’ said Sarah.
Foster carers are assessed on their suitability and must attend mandatory preparation training before they are accepted to care for children or young people and are offered regular follow-up training. However, GLBTI families and singles are considered under the same criteria as all other applicants.
‘We really wanted to be foster carers but weren’t sure it would be open to our sexuality,’ said Sarah. ‘We saw an ad in OUTinPerth and thought wow, they’re actually looking for our kind of people so we put in an application.’
While each agency has their own individual policies, most are open to accepting GLBTI foster carers and Ellen and Sarah say they have had nothing but positive experiences with the agency they chose.
Ellen says despite the difficulties along the way, both she and Sarah have grown and experienced a great deal over the last 18 months of fostering.
‘It teaches you a lot of lessons,’ she said.
‘We learnt so much about ourselves and even though we’ve been together for over five years, we’ve learnt more in that last year and a half about ourselves as a couple and as individuals than in the rest of the time.’
GLBTI Friendly Foster Care Agencies and Programs
Fostering Futures- Anglicare WA
Phone: 9263 2070
Email: fostering.futures@anglicarewa.org.au
Website: www.teenshare.org.au
Futures- Uniting Care West
Phone: 9355 9042
Website: www.unitingcarewest.org.au
Mercy Foster Care- Mercy Family Services
Phone: 9442 3444
Email: fostercare@mercygroup.com.au
Website: www.mercygroup.com.au
Parkerville Children and Youth Care
Phone: 9295 4400
Website: www.parkerville.org.au
Department for Child Protection
Phone: 9222 2555
Freecall: 1800 622 258
Website: www.childprotection.wa.gov.au
Useful information
Foster Care Association of Western Australia Inc
www.fcwa.com.au
Fostering in WA
www.fosteringwa.com.au
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