There are many reasons, ranging from conflict and/or abuse to having parents incapacitated by illness, why young people may need the care of a foster parent and safe space to be away from their home. Statistics show that children coming into care now are likely to be younger, stay longer and have more complex issues than ever before.
In an effort to diversify the pool of people willing to provide foster care to young people in crisis, Anglicare’s Teenshare program is taking the innovative step of recruiting GLBTIQ foster carers. Teenshare Co-ordinator Stephan Lund explained to OUTinPerth ‘There was some research done about emerging sexuality issues for young people in foster care, and some of the conclusions of that research were that some of the needs of young people questioning their sexual identity were not being met. We identified one of the reasons [as] a lack of sensitivity to some of those issues from some of the people and some of the agencies providing foster care’, adding that as a result the programme is seeking foster carers to suit the diverse range of children and young people into their care.
Teenshare is seeking people who want to work with teenagers, are flexible and stable in their life, accommodation and relationships and have the capacity to work in teams. Mr Lund said ‘We find our carers don’t always fit the profile of carers you get in other agencies. Some are parents whose kids are grown up, some are single people who’ve never had kids… you can be working; you can be in a relationship or not’.
Potential foster carers go through a rigorous assessment and training process, including police, records, health and referee checks that can take up to four months. According to Stephan Lund, the agency prides itself on having above-industry standard assessment of potential carers, ‘we’re not afraid to ask questions that are intrusive and we make no apology for that demanding process’. The in-house assessment team is the same team responsible for providing round the clock support to foster carers once accepted into the Teenshare program.
While foster caring can be a challenging experience, Mr Lund says ‘Our carers always say the rewards outweigh the challenges. They don’t necessarily see it at the time when the kids are with them, as it’s usually a difficult time, but seeing the difference they’ve made down the track helps’.
Mr Lund said Teenshare is a program that ‘provid[es] parenting opportunities for those that we know would be fantastic parents’. He encourages interested members of the GLBTIQ community who are prepared to take up the challenge of becoming a foster carer to contact Teenshare ( www.teenshare.org.au).
