What was it that made you decide to be a foster carer?
We had been trying to start our own family for a few years and looked into other ways to do so. We looked into adoption first and were told it could take up to 8 years… we wondered if we could care for many children in that time if we fostered. The answer is yes! Now I am forever grateful we decided to go down this path.
How have you found support offered by Key Assets?
We could not be more pleased with the level of support and training we have already received with Key Assets. Key Assets are professional but also very personable and Adam and I haven’t seen our children warm to Social Workers as quickly as they have with the ones from Keys Assets. We enjoy welcoming them into our home and becoming a part of all our lives.
The fact that you can change the life of someone else so entirely for the better is not something that everyone gets the opportunity to do but we can help future generations with our care and that is so impactful.
We have supportive and productive home visits that actually provide great outcomes for us and the children because our Key Assets Social Worker is so qualified and caring and follows through with what she says she will do.
We have been offered more opportunities to engage in activities of not only self-care but also activities for the children to meet other families and staff.
What are the positive experiences or the rewards of fostering?
Everything!!! The connection the children have to each other. How we can normalise going to Therapies and birth family contact. How affectionate and kind they all are. How they excel in ways that they have had to work so hard to get to and overcome things no child ever should but when they do we get to celebrate this with them.
If you had the job of recruiting foster carers– what would you say to motivate people to become carers?
I would say that if you have spare time in your lives, spare rooms in your house, motivation to make a difference in a young person’s life, good supportive people around you and a big heart that fostering will change your life in ways you never thought possible. The fact that you can change the life of someone else so entirely for the better is not something that everyone gets the opportunity to do but we can help future generations with our care and that is so impactful.
We could not be more pleased with the level of support and training we have already received with Key Assets. We have been offered more opportunities to engage in activities of not only self-care but also activities for the children to meet other families and staff.
What advice would you give others carers or those who are interested in becoming a foster carer?
I always like to suggest that they go to a Key Assets information session first to see what they think and establish what type of care they would like to do and explain the differences to them with respite, short, long and emergency care. I also like to explain that there are various levels of care, and that fostering children can be from birth to 18-year-olds with various levels of trauma and reasons for being in foster care.
For more information:
1800 WE CARE
