The application process to become a foster carer in Queensland with Althea Projects Foster and Kinship Program is detailed below.  The process to become a foster carer from submission of application to approval is usually between 2-4 months depending on each person’s circumstances.

The process to become a kinship carer differs and we recommend you speak with Althea Projects Foster and Kinship Program for further information.

The process to becoming a Foster Carer includes the following steps:

1. Register your Interest in Becoming a Foster Carer

By calling (07) 4779 3332 or emailing foster@altheaprojects.org.au. At this point we will provide you with some basic information and arrange to do a home visit. We will guide you through all of the following further steps

2. Home Visit

This is your opportunity to ask any questions. We will also seek more information from you and complete a Household Safety Study.

3. Attend and successfully complete Pre-Service Training

This training is mandatory for general carers. It helps you to understand the foster care system, the types of experiences children in care have, how a child we be matched to you, the placement process itself, and who you will be working with if you go onto become an approved Foster Carer. The four (4) modules you must successfully complete before you can make an application to become a carer include:

• The context of foster care
• Understanding the past for a child or young person
• Early days in a placement
• Quality care – Working together

A Certificate of Achievement will be issues once you have successfully completed the required worksheets for these modules.

4. Make an application to be a Foster Carer

This involves the following to be completed:

• That you make an application for a Blue Card (if you don’t already have on) you can do this online or by paper form
• That you then complete an Application for Approval Form (APA), and a Health & Wellbeing Questionnaire

In completing those forms, you are providing your consent to undergo child protection, domestic violence, criminal history checks and health checks. Again, these are a mandatory requirement for becoming a Foster (or Kinship) Carer.

5. Assessment Completion

This involves an assessor meeting with you in your home and interviewing you (your partner if applying with another person) and all household members, including children. You will be required to provide names of personal referees to be contacted and to seek a GP report from your regular doctor. Information about this will be provided to you at the time.

The assessor will take all of the information they have gathered for their initial contact with you through to the interviews being completed and all the forms and checks that have been completed in between and write an assessment report. It is the assessor’s responsibility to form an overall assessment of your suitability and record that on the assessment report. The assessor can only recommend that you be approved or not approved as a carer. This whole process should generally take 3 to 6 months.

6. Assessment Lodgment and Approval Decision Making

The assessment is then lodged with the Department of Children, Youth Justice & Multicultural Affairs where a Child Safety Manager will review the asessment report and all other accompanying documents such as the Household Safety Study, GP Report, Referee Report, Foster Carer Agreement (for General Carers) and Training Certificates (for General Carers) and make the approval decision.

If approved, you will be issued an Initial Certificate of Approval. This certificate is valid for one (1) year, which after time you will go through another assessment process for renewal. As part of your first renewal, and during your first year of approval, all General Carers are required to complete a further three (3) modules of mandatory training. There are:

• Promoting Positive Behaviours
• Caring for Chidren and Young People who have experienced sexual abuse
• Carer Support – Advocacy and Self-Care

All subsequent renewals will occur every two (2) years.

If not approved, you will receive a letter stating the reason for the decision and your review rights.

Kinship Carers

Kinship Carers are identified by Child Safety Services. Althea Projects Foster and Kinship Program will only receive kinship applicant referrals from the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs.

Kinship Carers do not have to undertake any mandatory training; however, they do have to complete all the same paperwork, undertake all the same background checks, and participate in the assessment process.

For more information on becoming a Foster Carer https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/child-family/foster-kinship-care