Children moved away as carer shortage grips
CHILDREN from South Gippsland are being moved to live with foster carers in Melbourne because of a lack of carers locally.
Children in foster care live with families other than their own due to such issues as family breakdown, illness, death of a parent, abuse or financial, employment and housing difficulties.
More foster cares are needed to care for children without places to call home.
While the Salvation Army is withdrawing from foster care, a new agency in the area, OzChild, is recruiting carers.
The organisation has been operating in Melbourne since the 1970s and the number of referrals being directed to OzChild has been increasing.
Jonathan Finch, OzChild’s assistant director in home care, said, “The number of children in out of home car has increased from 6500 to 10,500 in Victoria since 2015.
“That is due to varying reasons, such as more awareness of the issues that affect children and developments in family violence, and the child welfare service has received more funding to improve people’s knowledge of child abuse and neglect.”
However since 2014, the number of carers in Victoria has fallen to 670 and Mr Finch is unsure why.
“Less people are involved in voluntary work and less people are involved in the community,” he said.
“We want to get as many carers into the system as we can and to support the most vulnerable members of society. We want to be able to care for them in their communities and not remove them from their friends and their community.”
The Salvation Army will move out of foster care from July 2019, affecting 80 children, 20 carers and Salvation Army staff through the army’s Leongatha office.
The Salvation Army has not responded to numerous requests from The Star for updates about working with the State Government to find a new provider.
A spokesperson from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services said, “The department will undertake a process in the new year so that new providers are in place before June 30 and we can ensure the ongoing care of all children and young people currently receiving out of home care services through the Salvation Army.”
OzChild’s decision to move into foster care in South Gippsland was made before the Salvation Army decided to withdraw from the provision of foster care.
“I think the department will try to find new agencies so hopefully no carers will be lost from the system,” Mr Finch said of the army’s withdrawal.
He promised OzChild would support carers and their costs would be reimbursed, although they are not paid.
Rewarding role: OzChild foster carers in Gippsland, Matthew and Lisa with their son Angus. They currently have an 18 month old in their care.
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