Talk to me about Fostering in Australia (WA)...

So DH and I were talking the other day about fostering kids.
We are done having kids (:() but we are in a good position, we have a lot and aside from some charity donations, we do nothing for anyone else. We don't make a difference to anybody's lives.
We have the means to foster kids, and I think it would be a very rewarding experience for us and especially for Charlotte (and Marley as she grows).

Wondering if anyone is a foster parent? Or has been one? Looking for some insight, particularly in WA.

TIA :)

im not in WA, im in NSW, but was looking into it a while back too......would be interested to see people's experiences.... :)

My Mum is a foster carer in Qld. Not sure of the interstate differences, but if you have specific questions I can try to answer them.

Foster Care Assoc of WA

We went to an info night a couple of years ago, just next to Belmont Forum. At the time they were extremely desperate for carers, particularly Indigenous carers. They won't generally place an Indigenous child with a non indigenous family, unless the family undertakes some cultural sessions.

We were pretty much told that once we'd been through the hoops, we would be able to pick the age and even gender of our foster child. Obviously the more flexible you are the happier they'll (the dept) be. They said there are different intake areas, to try and keep the children in their schools and familiar areas - so you wouldn't generally be given a child from say, Joondalup.

As for the various hoops, I recall it being - an info night, an application with a couple of references, 2 home visits and some parenting classes. The info night answered our questions about financial issues. They also emphasised that reunification of the family was top priority, so the child would be having supervised visits with their parents, unless it was causing harm to the child.

There are also a few different types you can do - emergency, where you may only get a couple of hours notice; respite, where you have the same child on a regular basis (generally because parent/s are unwell rather than child being abused), or permanent care. Permanent isn't actually permanent, it's more long term. These children generally have court orders saying they can't be in the care of their parents for 2 years, 5 years or ever.

Hope you can unscramble all that :)

I have no idea but LS that's an awesome idea!!!!!

Foster kids need stable and loving homes!

We had *just* filled out the forms and were literally abot to submit them the week I found out I was pregnant with P.

Everyone involved was really helpful and friendly. The amount of paperwork, tests, interviews and etc are insane LOL...but all the staff that I experienced were really nice and good at making the process as streamlined as possible.

You'll need a space in your house (a room, bed etc etc) set up and suitable for another child before they come over for the interviews and etc, as having space in the house and family is obviously an important thing for the agency.

We didn't have the space for 2 in the house I was in when I got preg with P so didnt go any further in the application process and now don't have room for 3, but would def start the process again if we were in a bigger place.

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We had *just* filled out the forms and were literally abot to submit them the week I found out I was pregnant with P.

Everyone involved was really helpful and friendly. The amount of paperwork, tests, interviews and etc are insane LOL...but all the staff that I experienced were really nice and good at making the process as streamlined as possible.

You'll need a space in your house (a room, bed etc etc) set up and suitable for another child before they come over for the interviews and etc, as having space in the house and family is obviously an important thing for the agency.

We didn't have the space for 2 in the house I was in when I got preg with P so didnt go any further in the application process and now don't have room for 3, but would def start the process again if we were in a bigger place.

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Thanks for the info! We'd love to foster, and intend to one day, depending on if we are blessed with more kids ourselves!