To strengthen your understanding of care arrangements, it’s important to know what types of care arrangements are available
Who needs care?
Children coming into foster or kinship care have experienced harm or are at risk of harm and may:
- be any age (up to 18)
- be in sibling groups
- come from anywhere in Queensland
- come from any cultural or religious background
- have special care needs.
What is foster care?
Foster carers are approved by Child Safety to provide care in their own homes for children and young people to whom they are not related and with whom they may not have a previous connection. This care may be for short or long periods of time.
What is kinship care?
Kinship carers are approved by Child Safety to provide care in their own homes for a relative, family member, close friend or a member of the community.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, a kinship carer may be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person who is a member of a similar family group, community, mob, or community that is similar to the child’s clan, or from the same language group.
When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people need to live away from home for their own protection, we are committed to ensuring the maintenance of their cultural identity and relationship with their families and communities.
Tip
To deepen your knowledge on what kinship means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, view this short video.
Who are provisionally approved carers?
A person who has applied to become a foster or kinship carer may be provisionally approved as a carer, allowing them to care for a specific child or young person while their application to be a foster carer or kinship carer is decided.
This type of approval is usually given to family members or other people already well known to a child or young person, to enable an immediate care arrangement to be made.
Attention
The application for foster and kinship carer approval is to be finalised within 90 days.
Provisional approval is valid for 60 days. It may be extended, but it cannot exceed 90 days
Further reading
Procedure: Provide and review care
Practice guide: Provisional approval
Seeing and understanding
NextImportant factors in the recruitment, support and retention of carers
Published on:
Last reviewed:
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Date:
Maintenance
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Date:
Terminology change - placement to care arrangement
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Date:
Maintenance.
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Page created