Foster Carers (Long-Term)
Job No:
76835
Location:
Adelaide Metro & SA Country Regions
- Every child has the right to a safe, loving and secure home. There are children in your community who need a long-term family home.
- Extensive support, on-going training and access to 24-7 on-call support is provided plus a tax-free reimbursement of up to $850 per week.
- Are you a compassionate, nurturing person or couple with a safe home environment and time to give?
- Are you looking for a change, and a new challenging yet highly rewarding path to take in your life?
Who is Life Without Barriers?
Life Without Barriers (LWB) is a not-for-profit organisation. LWB delivers services in the areas of disability, out-of-home care, aged care, mental health and support for refugee and asylum seekers. We also provide services to homeless people and to youth involved with the justice system.
LWB was established through the shared determination of local community members who wanted to improve the lives of people with a disability. Motivated by their own experiences and in response to demand for local disability services, they decided to act. Generating interest in the community, proposing to create a new non-government organisation for supporting people living with a disability, a Board was formed and Life Without Barriers was established.
LWB believes in the rights of people and the importance of relationships. These foundations shape our unique approach to care and underpin the purpose, vision and values of the organisation.
Life Without Barriers' Values
- We build Relationships - We are People People. Relationships come first. Listening helps us understand.
- We are Imaginative - We are imaginative in our thinking and open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
- We are Respectful - We are respectful and caring in our dealings. We see the big picture but never lose sight of detail. We welcome diversity.
- We are Responsive - We are responsive to needs, determined to get things done and do them well.
- We are Courageous - We are courageous in our convictions. We stand up for what we believe in.
Foster Care at Life Without Barriers
Foster care involves caring for children or young people who are not able to live safely with their family. Life Without Barriers in SA provides home-based care to children and young people aged between 0 – 17 who require long-term care (i.e. until they reach the age of 18). Children and young people in care have often experienced trauma, grief and loss. As a result of this, these young people often have high and complex emotional needs and behaviours.
At Life Without Barriers, we train and support Carers to provide home-based care, with the aim of helping children and young people heal and recover from the effects of trauma in their childhood. A carer’s relationship with a child is the key to growth and positive change. LWB carers have a high level of empathy and patience, and have a willingness to see past a child’s behaviours and learn about their underlying emotional needs. Life Without Barriers provides a high level of support to our carers who provide this invaluable care to children in need. We offer a very high level of personal support and guidance from dedicated support workers, on-going specialised training, in-house clinical services and our innovative therapeutic “Living Arts” program.
Sometimes there are groups of siblings who require foster care. Life Without Barriers in SA has developed a highly regarded model of care to cater for the needs of sibling groups. Developed on the premise “it takes a village to raise a child”, and our agency’s commitment to ensuring siblings in care keep in contact, the “Community of Care” model involves carefully matching groups of carer households who live in close geographic proximity to form a network of care for a sibling group (e.g., a sibling group of three, across three carer households). Children are carefully matched to each of our carers, and carers matched to each other. A high level of individual and group-based support is provided by our experienced support workers and clinicians. The siblings’ relationship with each other is maintained and strengthened through the group of carers providing formal and informal supports to each other in the form of babysitting, sleepovers, car pooling, informal sibling catch ups on weekends or in holidays, and also larger group activities during the year (e.g. Christmas and birthday get-togethers).
About the Program
Life Without Barriers currently has rewarding opportunities for compassionate people to become Long-Term Foster Carers and welcome a child into their home and family.
Carers can be single males or females, or couples, including same-sex couples, with or without children of their own. We are looking for caring people who are willing to make a long-term commitment to nurture a child or young person, help them to experience positive family life and form positive relationships, and find a place to belong as they grow into young adults.
In this highly rewarding and fulfilling role, you will be providing a nurturing, stable and supportive home environment for a child or young person aged 0 - 17 years. You'll be providing a high level of emotional support and care to help meet the young persons day-to-day needs, including their educational, recreational, cultural, and religious needs.
Eligibility / Selection Criteria
- You must be aged 25 or older
- Be able to provide a safe, hygienic, and smoke-free home environment
- Provide a suitable spare bedroom
- You'll be able to demonstrate that you are a calm, patient, resilient and flexible individual
- Prepared to work with a team of professionals
- Commit to ongoing training and development to provide the best care possible.
Our carers receive a high level of accredited training, on-going professional development opportunities, and training that is specifically tailored to help them meet the needs of the young person in their care.
In selecting Foster Carers, Life Without Barriers will consider:
- Applicant's maturity, health, capacity and experience in working with or caring for young people with complex and challenging needs.
- All successful applicants will be required to undertake a Screening and Licensing Check before commencement of the assessment process.
Life Without Barriers are committed to Aboriginal children and young people in our care receiving culturally appropriate care that supports their identity, culture, connection to family, country and community whilst maintaining their safety. At the moment, we have a number of Aboriginal children and young people needing Foster Carers. We strongly encourage people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background to apply for these positions.
Becoming a Foster Carer is a challenging yet extremely satisfying and rewarding role, where you will make the world of difference in the life of a child and truly make a positive impact within your community. Foster carers are the heart of our program; they play a vital role in the positive outcomes achieved for vulnerable children and young people in care.
For more information about these fulfilling opportunities please click here.
All applications are considered by the Life Without Barriers Out-of-Home-Care Pre-Placement Team. Successful candidates will be contacted by telephone to arrange an information session. Unsuccessful applicants will be informed by e-mail or in writing.