More foster carers are urgently needed in Northern Victoria, the Nationals’ Member for Northern Victoria Region Gaelle Broad said today.
Ms Broad said a key report from the Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO) had been tabled in Parliament, revealing nearly 10,000 children need ‘out of home’ care across the state.
“I encourage people to become foster carers because there is such a great need for this very special service, and it can be very rewarding. Unfortunately, our amazing foster carers are battling increasing costs and other challenges.,” Ms Broad said.
The VAGO report – Out-of-Home Care Services – noted there were 9353 children in out-of-home care at 30 June last year.
“The report found the state government is focusing on kinship care, which is important, but foster carers provide the flexibility in the system that is so important, and it is very concerning to see the number of foster carers in Victoria declining,” Ms Broad told Parliament.
“Victoria lags behind other states with the foster care allowance. The recent state budget saw an increase to the foster care allowance, but that simply covers inflation. When we speak to foster carers, they flag a number of concerns with the costs continuing to rise. It can be very difficult to afford the extra care that is needed and some children have complex needs.”
Ms Broad said some children were being placed in residential care but this was not ideal.
“We need to get more foster carers in the system. I want to acknowledge the incredible work that these families do. I know some people that are involved in foster care and others more recently that I spoke to, who simply went to an information session, and they were really moved and wanted to do the training needed to do to be able to assist.
“More needs to be done to support foster carers, to listen to the concerns that they are raising and to review that allowance and increase it, because there is a real need to retain them in our system to provide an environment of care for these children.”
The VAGO report also noted other concerns, including that the data kept by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) was difficult to follow.
The report made five recommendations for the department including: strengthening home-based-care and improving foster carer recruitment and retention; monitoring the status of foster carers; ensuring sufficient placements; improving data control and systems; and strengthening out-of-home-care demand forecasting and assurance. The report can be found here: Out-of-home-care services
Gaelle’s speech to Parliament can be found here: https://youtu.be/gWQEKbySqOU?si=usP5QobVLlW0Dgns
Media Contact: Linda Barrow 0484 303 764 linda.barrow@parliament.vic.gov.au
