Supporting a family based care arrangement

Carers may be supported by a family based care service or by Child Safety practitioners. Regardless of who provides the support, it is important that there is consistency in the delivery of support to carers. To achieve this consistency, be clear about what support means, how the support needs of carers are determined, and what activities constitute support.

There are two aspects to carer support, with a degree of overlap between them. They are:

• the support required for all carers specific to the goals of the care arrangement for a particular child
• the broader, general development and support needs specific to the carer’s overall role and responsibilities.

Foster and kinship carer services

Child Safety funds non-government family based care services to recruit, train and support foster and kinship carers to provide quality care arrangements. Family based care services are responsible for the ongoing training and development of carers as well as providing carers with support and supervision.

When a carer is supported by a family based care services, they are assigned a support worker who will visit the carer regularly and also support them by phone. The support worker may attend placement meetings with the carer and will assist them to work as part of the child’s safety and support network, and with others who have a role in implementing the child’s case plan.

Many services also provide an on-call service for after-hours phone support and advice for carers.

Document support for carers

The development and support needs of foster carers are negotiated during the completion of the foster carer agreement, which in turn is informed by matters that arise in the placement agreement for each child in their care. 

The development and support needs of kinship carers, along with the support needs of the child, are negotiated and documented in the placement agreement.  

Foster carer agreements

The foster carer agreement is a live document completed in partnership with the foster carers, the foster and kinship care service and Child Safety, and outlines practical information such as the number of children and type of care arrangements the carer is approved to care for, the age range of the children, the development and training needs of the carer, and support plans for the carer.

The foster carer agreement can be amended and updated at any time with the approval of the delegated CSSC manager.

Placement agreements

Each child in care must have a placement agreement (Child Protection Act 1999, section 84) that outlines the goals of the care arrangement and the responsibilities of the Child Safety practitioner and the approved carer. It also includes relevant information about a child’s special needs and records the agreed support and services to be provided to the carer or care service. The placement agreement is a live document and can be reviewed as the needs of the carer or child changes.

Placement agreements ensure carers have access to relevant information about a child and that there is adequate support for the care arrangement. Information is provided to enable the carer to provide an appropriate level of care for the child and to ensure the child’s safety, as well as that of the carer and members of the carers’ household.

Support strategies

Carers appreciate the following everyday support strategies, and they go a long way towards helping the carer provide stability and longevity to the child in the care arrangement.

• When a new care arrangement commences and the child is demonstrating unsettled behaviour, ask the Foster and Kinship Carer Support Line (1300 729 309) to call the carer to check in within the first 24 hours. 
• As the CSO, call or visit with the child and carer within the first 24–72 hours to see what else the carer and child needs.
• When the carer calls, speak to them rather than ask for a message to be taken, return emails promptly, prioritise home visits with carers, and schedule visits when it is convenient for the carer.
• Prioritise the timely processing of paperwork related to child-related costs and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses where prior approval has been provided by the financial delegate.
• Provide communication options to the carer (email, text, telephone, post) and respect their choice. (For example, if they prefer contact by email, provide documents and communication via email.)
• Consult with, or invite carers to, all meetings where appropriate to do so, such as safety and support network meetings, family group meetings, cultural support plan meetings, contact review meetings, and education support plan meetings.
• Provide the required consents, approvals and signed paperwork to the carer when required. (For example, provide consent for the child attending the dentist and be aware of exactly what consent is required.)
• Use the four domains of inquiry (What are we worried about? What’s working well? Where are we now? Next steps?) when communicating with carers and develop action steps together. 
• provide written letters to the carer advising them of any care arrangement decision, as soon as possible, as some decisions are reviewable through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). Include the reason for the decisions, conversations you have already held with the carers, as well as the work you implemented to achieve the outcome. (Refer to the practice guide Reviewable decisions.) 
• Offer short break care for the child, as needed. (Refer to Procedure 6 Respond to a request for short break care.)

Work in partnership with carers, involving them in decision making about care arrangements, rather than advising them of outcomes they have had no involvement in. When talking to carers, be mindful of the language you and the carer use to describe and talk about the child, as their sense of belonging may be affected by hearing themselves described as a ‘child in care’ and ‘living away from home’.

Home visits

Regular home visits with children and their carers is a form of meaningful support for the care arrangement. There are prescribed minimum contact requirements outlined in Procedure 5 Have contact with a child in care.

Before completing a home visit with a carer and the child, be clear on what goals you and the carer would like to achieve during the visit, for example, ask yourself:

• What do I hope to accomplish in partnership with the carer?
• What are the risks and safety issues I need to share with the carer?
• How can I be useful to the carer and the child on this visit?

Home visits are a good time to review the placement agreement, the strengths and needs of the child, the needs of the carer’s household, and to assess any changes in the household circumstances that could impact on the child’s safety. It is also a requirement for the practitioner to speak with the child alone, to provide them with an opportunity to express any concerns.

A respectful and partnering approach must be taken when spending time in a carer’s home so it doesn’t feel like an ‘inspection’ and an invasion of privacy. Carers can help by suggesting the child show their room to the practitioner and the child might enjoy showing a new practitioner around and introducing family members and pets.

It is not necessary to see the child’s bedroom and walk through the carer’s house each visit, although it is important to see inside the home and child’s room periodically to be confident that the environment is meeting the child’s needs.

After the visit, take some time to reflect on the home visit by considering the following questions. Asking the carer these questions may also help to structure a meaningful and informed home visit in the future:

• Which parts of the visit would the carer family say were most helpful and made a difference?
• What achievements have the child and family made since your last visit?
• What are the next steps for you and for the family?
• In what ways can you be helpful to the carer next time?

Informal short breaks

An informal short break may be facilitated by the carer, who can allow a child to stay with another person the carer knows for a period of up to 2 nights, for example, a sleep-over at a school friend's house. A carer can make this decision as it is considered a custody (daily care) decision. The carer must let their CSO know of the arrangement and provide the person’s name, address and phone number.

The purpose of this is to enable carers to use their own support networks for child care and support and help carers when emergencies or self-care needs arise and they need the child to stay with someone else for a short period of time—as any family in the community would. Support the carer to utilise this option where and when appropriate. 

There are no payments made to any other person in these circumstances. If a more regular plan for short break care is required, the CSO will need to undertake the necessary planning and assessment.

Carer Connect

Carer Connect is a web and mobile-friendly application (app) that provides carers with improved and secure access to information and support, when and where they need it. Carers can visit the Carer Connect site to register for the app.

Carer Connect allows carers to view relevant information and documentation to gain an understanding of how the needs of the children in their care can best be supported. This may include:

• the placement agreement and the authority to care
• medical information, for example, serious health condition alerts, health passports and immunisations
• Child Safety contact information, including the after-hours phone number
• the type of child protection order and expiry date
• cultural information
• current education information.

In addition to viewing child and carer support information, carers can:

• upload pictures of their home and family that can be shown to children when they are transitioning to a care arrangement
• view noticeboard articles that announce everything from training and social events to legislation changes
• make contributions to the life story for children and young people in their care using the kicbox app
• view and build children and young people’s ‘Who am I’ profile, including valuable information about their likes, dislikes, strengths and their routine
• submit claims for child related costs reimbursements for children and young people currently in their care, which have been pre-approved by Child Safety.