Make a difference to children and young people by becoming a foster carer and help them reach their brightest future.
Short-term foster care is when a child is placed temporarily with a carer for a limited period of time, anywhere from two weeks to two years, usually until the child can be safely reunited with their birth family or a permanent family is found for them.
Short-term foster care is important as it provides stability and security for a child during a time of upheaval or crisis in their life. Short-term foster care can be a stepping stone to permanent foster care, or it can be the child’s only experience of foster care if they are able to return safely to their birth family.
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You provide a safe, stable and nurturing family home to support children through this time of change. It’s important you have a child-focused approach to meet the needs of the child and build a strong relationship with them, their family and case workers. Being flexible to meet a child’s individual needs is important.
Barnardos gives foster care support through 24/7 telephone support, training and ongoing learning, to give you confidence in your fostering role. You will be part of a team and never be alone as we provide guidance all the way through your fostering journey.
We provide support every step of the way.
Placement can range from a few months up to a period of two years. If restoration to the birth family is not successful, a plan will be put in place to support the transition of the child or young person into permanent foster care or open adoption.
No, not all foster care is temporary. If the Children’s Court rules that the child cannot be safely reunited with their family, a plan will be developed to ensure a successful transition into permanent foster care or open adoption.
Becoming a foster carer provides an opportunity to make a real difference in the life of a child or young person in need. As a short-term foster carer, you can provide a safe and caring environment for a limited time and help the child work through their issues and develop their skills. You will also have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with the child and help them transition back to their birth family or into permanent care if needed.
To become a short-term foster carer with Barnardos, you must first complete an application form and attend an information session. Barnardos will then assess if you meet the criteria for becoming a foster carer and provide additional training and support. Once you have been approved, you will be matched with a child or young person in need of care and support. Take the first step by applying to become a foster carer.
Anna: The benefit for me of being a short-term foster carer is having little kids that have experienced lots of trauma come in traumatized and then grow to be happy, little bubbly, little people and you get to see that transition and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Widja: With this as a carer, it’s such a good opportunity for me to show my daughters how blessed you are, how lucky you are, compared with other kids, so they are more thankful.
Anna: My kids love that we’re foster carers, that we can give other kids a life that they lived, all the things that they got to do as children now these little kids get to experience in our house. Barnardos pay an allowance, which means I can comfortably stay home and look after my own children and then look after the little children that we have through Barnardos as well.
Widja: I’m searching a job too, while I’m looking after my two daughters. At the moment they are in high school. Three times I got interviewed but no, didn’t get accepted. So we contacted Barnardos, you say, like for four months for training. I said OK we go. At the time when Deb said there’s a little baby that’s waiting for you, I said so excited.
Anna: We’re currently caring for a group of four little boys, a sibling group, one with a disability. They’re all so close in age so that’s makes things a little bit more complicated. We started off with two of the siblings and then I met two of the other siblings, and then I went home and I said to my husband we need to have all four boys together. It’s the only thing they’ve ever had is each other, so it’s important that even though they don’t have mum and dad, they’ve still got each other.
Widja: So when I look after the little girl I saw – ah – this is this is where we belong. That little baby, when we arrive in our home, is bring joy, with my own girls there. So that’s a blessing you know?
Anna: The support received from Barnardos is fantastic. They’re there 24/7 for whatever it is that I need, whether it’s a phone call, a chat, advice, I need help with something. They’re there for anything that I need or anything that the child needs, they’re there 110% for.
Widja: The Barnardos caseworkers are supportive and my manager, Deb, she’s so great. We can contact them, SMS, give them what we need, what was the problem; they will respond to you.
Anna: If you’re interested in becoming a foster carer, I’d say jump in. Make the phone call, contact Barnardos. It is fantastic. It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done.
Barnardos short-term foster carers Simone and Louise start each day with a walk and a coffee together. Often, they are also joined by a baby who has been placed in their care.
For this wife and wife team, being able to help babies and young children through a difficult time in their lives is central to their family life. This year, 2024, Simone notches up 20 years as a short-term foster carer, but it nearly came to an end when she and Louise moved in together.
Simone discovered her nurturing skills in her 20s when she had twin girls with her then husband shortly before moving to Singapore and then Hong Kong. Three years later, she returned to Sydney with her daughters as a single mother. She was fortunate to have enough support from the girls’ father to be able to stay at home. As the girls became more independent, she felt she wanted to do more to give back to the community. Knowing Simone’s strong parenting capability, a close friend immediately suggested foster care.
“All I knew of foster care was Pippa from Home & Away, who took on children forever,” said Simone. As a single mother, she wasn’t looking to expand her family, but her skills and knowledge of child development meant she was a great candidate for short-term foster care.
Simone was acutely aware that children aren’t always presented with the same life chances. “So much happens in those early years. When a parent doesn’t have the capacity to support a child’s development in the first 12 months, there can be big gaps in a child’s development.”
“I knew I could fill that gap, so children could meet their developmental milestones and get the support they need,” said Simone. While she spent years strengthening her nurturing skills and becoming a fierce advocate for vulnerable children, she also made another self-discovery.
After realising her attraction to women, Simone came out to her friends and family in 2017. Not long after that she met Louise. To her surprise, Louise wasn’t intimidated by Simone’s role as a carer. Louise admired and respected Simone’s work. So much so, that for their third date, Louise organised a picnic in the botanic gardens for Simone and the baby that she was caring for at the time.
Two years later Simone and Louise moved in together. Although she regularly had breaks from fostering, in between ‘placements’, Simone took 6 months off caring. When they were settled in their new lives together, Simone got back in touch with her foster care agency to introduce her partner and enquire about foster care training for Louise. Despite having a great relationship with her agency, she was shocked at their response when she mentioned her new partner’s name.
“They told me I could no longer foster with them because it wouldn’t be ‘in line with their ethics’” Despite the shock and anger she and Louise experienced, Simone decided not to focus on the negative energy of this injustice. “I knew my job was to look after these babies and I wanted to get back to fostering as soon as possible”
Simone began calling around other foster care providers to enquire about their policy. She eventually spoke to a man in the intake team of a large agency who was also a member of the LGBTQI+ community. “I told him my story and he revealed that he fostered with his husband through another organisation – Barnardos.”
“Barnardos are so inclusive. Their priority is caring for children, no matter what your orientation or status is,” said Simone. As part of the short-term foster care team, Simone and Louise receive ongoing training and support from a team that is always on call to assist. Together they work with Barnardos as part of a team, to ensure each child has everything they need to thrive. They have also built strong connections in the local fostering community.
While Simone is the primary carer, Louise often works from home. For Louise, who didn’t have children prior to meeting Simone, she has been able to discover her maternal side through becoming a carer. She works a 9 day fortnight so that she can have a day as primary carer and give Simone a break. It is a lifestyle that brings out the best in both women and has given both of them opportunities to see a new side to their partner.
While the length of time they care for a baby can vary from a few months to a year, Simone and Louise are also able to take breaks from fostering so they can take time away together. She acknowledges it can be hard when a child has to leave, but it’s also rewarding to see them move on to their forever home – whether that be back with family or on to a new permanent home with a foster or prospective adoptive family.
“You need to decide what role you want to play first – whether it be short-term or fostering to expand your family,” said Simone, who has fostered 30 children in the last 20 years, either solo or with Louise. “We want to help as many children have the best start to life as possible and we want to keep doing it for as long as we can.”
Simone says that while many of these children won’t remember those early days as they grow, she feels a great sense of intrinsic pride in having played an important role for so many children.
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