Hi Cass there has been another post talking about this not long ago but i couldnt find it. :smt102

We are still technically registered as foster carers though we are not fostering at the moment. We became registered because we have alot of love to offer and a fantastic set up where we live with lots of open space. My Mum is a social worker and she had mentioned numerous times how they are always short of good carers ..that sealed it for us. We contacted DCD in our state and went from there. There are numerous interviews to be had with the family talking about a range of things from child development to dicipline to family background. There is also a lot of paperwork..references are needed and criminal background checks are done. I think it took us about 6 months to become registered from memory.

We had a range of children for short periods of time generally 2 - 6 weeks. We generally tried to stay with children that were younger than my youngest though there were some exceptions. While we found the experience to be incredibly rewarding it also became very difficult for the children that came to stay as well as our own children struggling to come to terms with the behaviours that our guests understandably displayed. For some of the children that came to stay it caused a lot of resentment for them to see how other children lived and are treated.

So goodluck with your journey. I dont know if we will continue now or not..we might offer the occassional respite..but right now my focus is on my family.

Jo