Foster caring a team effort
Local
When Dianne looks back at her seven-year foster care journey she only has one regret. “I wish I’d done it sooner,” she says.
Dianne and her husband Michael have been foster carers since 2017. Their unwavering focus is on the reunification of a child (or children) with their parents. In a nutshell, this means the process of returning a child in foster care to their birth family, if safe.
Dianne has five adult children of her own, while Michael has a son, and between them they have six grandsons.
“I have always wanted to foster, and Michael said, ‘Well, why don’t we do it?’”
“To be honest, we didn’t really know what foster care entailed.”
Over seven years, Dianne and Michael have reunified five children with their birth parents. Another four have gone to other foster families.
Centacare Foster Care provides nurturing, secure and safe homes for South Australian children and young people aged 0 to 17 who are unable to live with their families.
It specialises in reunification and is looking for foster carers who are dedicated to supporting the process of safely returning children to their birth families. They also seek carers who can provide nurturing care for children with complex needs or those in sibling groups.
Carers are not alone in their caring journey. For Dianne and Michael, working with a care team has been invaluable.
“It’s key to have support workers and a support team,” Dianne says.
“I can call them any time I need advice, a good cry, or need to vent. I mean, I can do that with my husband but sometimes it is just nice to be able to do it with someone else.”
Dianne’s advice for the foster care curious is simple.
“Do it. Just do it. Trust your gut and be able to ask for help. Don’t try to do it on your own. We have been very blessed to have the support from Centacare and we’ve also been blessed to have very good DCP (Department of Child Protection) workers. All our DCP workers have been phenomenal.”
Gentle giant Michael is Dianne’s rock and Centacare support workers are there any time she needs additional help.
Her advice is to ensure you have a supportive network.
“I’m lucky to have a supportive partner,” she says.
Certain qualities that reunification carers have are patience, as healing and progress can take time, openness to build positive relationships with both the child and their birth family and a realistic understanding that sometimes can be challenging
The couple works closely with the birth family to nurture their relationship with the child. Dianne explains that she always makes herself available when possible and strives to ensure the birth family understands they are not trying to take their child away.
She often reassures them that their primary aim is to support the family’s efforts to have their children return home.
Dianne also takes an honest approach with the children, especially as they grow older and begin to ask questions about their living situation. When they enquire about why they are living with her instead of their parents, she explains that raising young children can be challenging, and sometimes parents need extra support.
Dianne goes above and beyond to create opportunities for birth parents to spend quality time with their children, organising special outings like birthday parties at the park or visits to play cafes. She emphasises that there is no judgment, as everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect.
Dianne and Michael ensure that Christmas is a memorable and meaningful time for the children they care for.
Dianne typically hosts the celebration, preparing a variety of dishes, setting up a paddle pool, and organising karaoke and games. She also makes sure the children can give presents to their parents, helping them create cards and encouraging them to draw pictures for their birth parents’ fridge.
They try to visit Santa for a photo to share with the children’s mum and dad.
For all the challenges, foster caring has enriched Dianne and Michael’s lives.
“I look at it from my children’s point of view,” Dianne says.
“My kids are very close to me, and I wonder how they would feel, even now as adults, if I wasn’t able to care for them. I want these children to have what my kids had, especially the little ones.”
Learn more about foster caring by visiting centacare.org.au
Jump to next article
