A Discussion Paper on Foster Carers and Kinship Carers in the ACT

UNCLASSIFIED

Community Services Directorate

A Discussion Paper on Foster Carers and Kinship Carers in the ACT

Introduction

Over the course of 2013 the Community Services Directorate (CSD) has been consulting with a range of stakeholders, including carers, and undertaking research in order to develop the Out of Home Care Strategy 2015-2020.

Carers, both foster carers and kinship carers, comprise a key stakeholder group for the Out of Home Care Strategy. Carers are the backbone of the out of home care system and the difficulty experienced in attracting and retaining carers was a key driver, amongst several other issues, for development of the Strategy. Consequently it was extremely important to seek the views of carers to inform strategy development.

CSD sought carer views through a number of avenues including:

In July-August 2013 CSD conducted a survey of kinship carers and a survey of foster carers;
Ministerial Carer Roundtables held on 12 March 2013 and 23 August 2013 to which all carers were invited;
Kinship and foster carers were involved in a co-design project facilitated by ThinkPlace consultants:
Carers were encouraged to develop written submissions to the Issues Paper released in August 2013 and the Discussion Paper released in November 2013.

A report of the findings of the ThinkPlace project has been released on the CSD website, as have submissions from organisations and individuals in response to the Issues and Discussion Papers released in 2013.

This Discussion Paper brings together findings from carer consultations, the carer surveys and administrative data to profile ACT carers and highlight issues for consideration in development of the Out of Home Care Strategy 2015-2020. The paper also suggests some potential ways forward to address issues raised by carers. Information about the design and conduct of the foster carer and kinship carer surveys and quantitative data obtained through the surveys is reported in Attachment A. It is important to note that the low response rate to the kinship carer survey suggests that the results may not accurately represent kinship carer demographics and their views which limits its usefulness.

Who are the ACT’s Carers?

There are some demographic differences between kinship carers and foster carers.

Foster carers tend to be younger than kinship carers, with almost half of the foster carers responding to the survey being aged below 45.

Kinship carers range widely in age with Directorate data reporting an age range of between 23 and 87with an average age of 50 years. Significantly, 60% of kinship carers are grandparents, the majority (43%) are a maternal grandparent. The majority of kinship carers (62%) are female.

Forty-four kinship carers are aged between 66 and 87, suggesting that many of the children they care for will experience disruption of their placement due to the ageing of their carer, prior to reaching maturity.

Most ACT foster carers are well educated. Fifty-seven percent of foster carers hold a Bachelor or higher degree.This compares favourably with the Australian population aged 17-64, only 25% of which hold a degree. Forty six percent of kinship carers who responded to the survey report holding a Bachelor or higher degree. While CSD does not routinely collect and report this information in the aggregate for kinship carers, anecdotal evidence suggests that better educated kin carers responded at higher numbers to the survey, skewing results. It is likely that the actual proportion of kinship carers holding degree qualifications is lower.

Ten percent of foster carers are reliant upon a government pension or benefit for their main source of income. Only slightly more kinship carer respondents are reliant on a government pension or benefit at 12.2% however a further 19.5% rely on superannuation and fewer are working for wages or salaries (58.5% compared to 77%). All in all, almost a third of kinshipcarer respondentswere on retirement incomes or a government pension or benefit, reflecting the group’s older age profile, and that is likely to be even higher across the total kinship care population.

The majority of both foster carers (74%) and kinship carers are either married or partnered(60%). Of the 71 single kinship carer households, 67 are single female carers.

Carers are largely drawn from the mainstream Australian population. Care and Protection Services has struggled to attract adequate numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers to care for the 140 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care.

Only three foster care respondents (of 101)reported identifying as Aboriginal Australians in the foster carer survey. Three kinship care respondents (of 41)identified in the kinship carer survey however administrative data reveals that 9% of kinship carers, 26 persons, are Indigenous. These carers care for a total of 48 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Only a handful of carers in each group reported being born in non-English speaking countries, primarily European countries.

In summary, the picture that emerges from the foster carer survey is of a group of predominantly middle aged, well educated, socially concerned citizens, many of whom are drawn from the helping or other people-oriented occupations. ACT carers are highly committed. Unlike some jurisdictions where a proportion of carers are single parents seeking to remain at home with their own children or to supplement their incomes, ACT carers are not fostering for the money or to avoid Centrelink participation requirements, with many juggling full or part time work and/or study in addition to family and carer responsibilities. Most are caring for only one or two children, underlining the difficulty of obtaining placements for large sibling groups.

The picture of kinship carers which emerges from this survey is one primarily of grandmothers and secondarily aunts caring for one or two relative children. Looked at as a group, these carers are older and less likely to be in the paid workforce and a greater proportion are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Almost a quarter of kinship carers reside outside the ACT, but of those who reside in the ACT, 70% reside in either Belconnen or Tuggeranong.

Recruiting Carers

It is proving difficult around the nation to recruit adequate numbers of foster carers. The recruitment of carers in the ACT poses particular challenges because of population demographics. Most families are small and the ACT has the highest level of workforce participation in Australia for both males and females.

One hint about possible recruiting grounds is provided in the foster carer survey results. Half of all the foster carer respondents (44 of 88) who nominated their field of study had studied social work, psychology, nursing, education, child care, policing and the like, suggesting that these courses or occupations are fertile potential recruiting grounds for foster carers.

Foster carer respondents to the survey were asked about their motivation to become a carer. They were able to indicate multiple motivations in response to the question “What motivated you to become a carer?” and it is not possible to discern the relative strength of drivers. Clearly helping others, particularly children, is a key motivator for the large majority of respondents. The desire to create or extend a family is also another important factor at 31% of respondents, with 17.2% specifically identifying infertility as a factor. Only 7% identified that “the subsidy helps me financially” is a motivation.

Experience in the ACT suggests that the best way to recruit foster carers is through other foster carers. Fortunately, 79% of foster carers report encouraging others to become a foster carer.

For kinship carers, the basis of recruitment is entirely different. The majority of kinship carers are close relatives of the child or young person, identified by Care and Protection Services as a suitable potential carer either at the time of the child’s entry to care or subsequently.

Anecdotally, kinship carers often report that they felt that they had little choice but to accept kinship care responsibilities when they were proposed by Care and Protection Services. Just over a quarter of kinship carer respondents to the kinship survey marked“feeling obligated” as a motivation, however an alternative choice of “Family ties and obligations” also attracted 75.6% of respondents. These findings suggest there is perhaps little sense of choice for many kinship carers.

Retaining Carers

A third of foster carers have been caring for between four and a half and nine years. Almost another third have only been carers for two or fewer years, with 14% in their first year. Four carers have cared for over two decades. Only 7% of foster carer survey respondents indicated an intention to cease caring within twelve months with the very great majority indicating no intention to cease in the carer role or alternatively an intention to see out current children to maturity.

As outlined above, a significant number of kinship carers will age out of the carer role in coming years. This presents significant challenges for CSD.

Reflections on the Role of Foster Carer

The role of foster or kinship carer is an extraordinarily difficult one. As a society we ask carers to do a very difficult job which involves welcoming children into their home, loving them and investing in them, but then being prepared if required to let them go with good grace. The concept of “Emotional Labour” has become a focus of research in recent years in relation to frontline service delivery personnel such as paramedics and social workers. Being a foster or kinship carer also involves engaging in what is often arduous emotional labour.

Letting go of a beloved child is difficult under any circumstances but can be particularly difficult for carers when they doubt the wisdom, for example, of returning a child to a home where earlier they had suffered abuse. In addition to the sense of grief and loss that can be experienced when children move, carers can feel very powerless in these circumstances. The carer is generally the person with most contact with the child or young person and usually has responsibility for implementation of many aspects of the care plan, yet the carer is a volunteer surrounded by professionals who have the power to decide a child’s future.

We also ask carers to open their homes and lives to scrutiny by government and foster care agencies. This is necessary to assure the safety of the children and young people we place with them but is not an experience that most people would welcome.

In addition, caring for a child who has been abused and neglected can present many day to day challenges, not least of which is the burden of meeting with caseworkers and the foster care agency, taking children to appointments and to contact visits.

A further challenge is that permission from the authorities must be obtained for a variety of activities such as interstate and overseas holidays adding administrative burden and complexity to running a household.

Foster carers may chafe under these burdens, but for kinship carers who did not seek the role but had it thrust upon them, it can be particularly challenging. The difficulties are also exacerbated for kinship carers where there is grief or a sense of guilt attaching to the circumstances that brought the child into care and if there is ongoing conflict with the child’s birth parents.

The Experience of Being a Carer

What is the reported experience of foster and kinship caring in the ACT? Are carers’ hopes for the role and needs for support being met?

Much of the commentary from carers reveals just how simultaneously demanding and rewarding the carer role can be. Being a carer was described during consultations and through the survey as the hardest yet most rewarding activity many carers have ever undertaken.

Foster carers report very variable experiences of Care and Protection Services and foster care agencies, with respondents reporting excellent levels of responsiveness from both case workers and foster care support workers through a range of mixed experiences depending upon the skill, experience and personality of workers to others reporting a series of unsatisfactory interactions with both non government and government services.

A very clear message from the survey is that foster carers find the three way relationship between themselves, the foster care agencies and Care and Protection Services very frustrating. The need for timelier decision making is another frequently expressed concern with foster carers recognising that the three way relationship creates delays and conflicts of opinion and that high worker caseloads also contribute to delays in responding to requests for assistance and in decision making. By way of contrast, kinship carer survey respondents reported more positively on the support they received from their single service provider, Care and Protection Services.

Carers struggle with others holding the power of life changing decisions and with a perceived lack of recognition within the care team. Some carers feel that they know the child best yet their views are not accorded appropriate weight. Carers also routinely raise lack of information sharing as a problem, including case history and health information.

The value of a warm, personal relationship with a foster care support worker or case worker cannot be understated. The lack of continuity of caseworker or foster care support worker is another matter of significant concern to carers. It underlines in their eyes the need for accurate, comprehensive case information to be recorded and for new workers to familiarise themselves with case records prior to a first meeting.

In relation to training, foster carers are generally satisfied or very satisfied with the training they have received. Of a number of possible areas for additional training those that rated highest pertained to responding to the behaviour and needs of their child – “Specialist advice on my child or young person’s needs” ranked highest at 65.9% of respondents, “Response to trauma in children and young people” second at 63.4% and “Behaviour management” and “Encouraging protective behaviours” equal third at 59.8%.

Only 30% of kinship carers report ever having received any training.

What do Foster Carers Want?

Our consultations over the past twelve months suggest that ACT foster carers want:

To make a difference in a child’s life.
Greater recognition, respect and consideration, including acknowledgement by the care team that the carer has the central relationship with the child.
An end to three way conflicts between carers, foster care agencies and Care and Protection Services.
Assistance in the form of training and expert individualised coaching and mentoring to help them deal with their child’s distress and acting out behaviours.
More flexible use of discretionary funding, for example, some carers would prefer in-home help rather than respite.
Opportunity to meet with Care and Protection Services and agency workers outside normal business hours given many carers are also in paid employment.
Easier, quicker opportunities to secure permanency of the relationship where that is appropriate.
Better information about children they are asked to take, including health information.
To not have to be perfect parents and to know that they can ask for and receive help when they need it.
To be reimbursed for costs incurred in looking after a child.
To be treated fairly and equitably.

What do Kinship Carers Want?

The consultations over the past twelve months suggest that kinship carers want:

Better information about the challenges of being a kinship carer and Care and Protection Services’ expectations of kinship carers so they can make an informed decision about whether to take on this responsibility.
Better information about the child and the likely impact of caring for the particular child upon their own family.
Acknowledgment that usually they understand the complex family situation and know the child better than any other member of the care team.
To not have to be perfect parents and to know that they can ask for and receive help when they need it.
Assistance in the form of training and expert individualised coaching and mentoring to help them deal with their child’s distress and acting out behaviours.
To be reimbursed for costs incurred in looking after the child.
Better and more timely information about entitlements.
Acknowledgment of the many extra demands upon their time and flexible financial and other practical assistance to help them meet their caring responsibilities.
Opportunity to meet with Care and Protection Services and agency workers outside normal business hours given many carers are also in paid employment.
Easier, quicker opportunities to secure permanency.

While many of the kin carers and foster carers’ desires are shared, there are some differences arising from the different routes into the carer role and different support arrangements.