Social justice

Structural change needed to support children in care

The Victorian Ombudsman's report into out-of-home care shines a light on a number of critical issues affecting the way we care for our most vulnerable children.

My concern is that the report does not go far enough in driving the fundamental shift needed to attract more foster careers and give children who have suffered significant trauma the support they need to grow and thrive.

Anglicare Victoria and other welfare agencies have been calling for more carers and improved support for those carers for many years.

And while the Brumby Government has made some progress to improving the system, we are yet to see the kind of structural reform needed to make a real change in the life chaces of children removed from their families due to abuse or neglect.

Foster carers are leaving the system in droves. The children they care for are have more complex needs and we are demanding, in some cases, that carers coordinate with therapeutic professionals, schools and the child's natural family.

In light of this, the time has come to move towards a model of professional foster care, in addition to the current volunteer program, that would see carers paid around $70,000 a year to care for a child.

The vast majority of foster carers do an amazing and largely unheralded job. It's time we recognise the important and difficult role they play.

• Read Anglicare Victoria's media release
• Read an article on The Melbourne Anglican website
• Read an excellent piece by Carol Nader, Social Policy Editor for The Age

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