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The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
No spare time, no spare bedrooms: young Australian families under pressure are turning away from foster care
Robyn and Nick Lloyd have been foster carers for a decade, welcoming more than 30 kids into their home. There's a financial and emotional toll to being a carer; but also joy attached to providing a safe environment for some of society's most vulnerable members. Some of the foster children stay with them a few days, others for months. They cared for one little boy for two years. The Sydney couple, who have three biological daughters, have drawn on support networks during their time as foster carers, including their local Anglican church members and an older fostering couple down the street who were fill-in grandparents for some of the younger foster kids. Robyn also regularly meets with a group of about 20 carers living in the local area. But she has noticed that the group is rarely replenished with younger members, raising concerns that the next cohort of carers has gone missing. Australia's living and housing costs are so extreme that younger families – mainly millennials – who would typically represent the next generation of carers have neither the time nor spare bedroom to foster. 'I'm not seeing lots of younger families come through the carers' networks; there haven't been many under 40,' Robyn says. 'We need carers. One of the things I love about being a foster carer is being part of the village that raises them. 'These kids just need people to support them and love them.' There were 7,980 foster carer households with a child placement as at 30 June 2024, according to the most recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data. This represents more than a 10% drop in numbers in just three years, and 20% drop over the past decade. Traditionally, such a large cohort like the millennials reaching the young family stage would represent foster care potential, according to the Association of Children's Welfare Agencies; however, this is now unlikely. The association's chief executive, Simone Czech, says the number of foster carers leaving the system is high, while the number of inquiries to become carers is decreasing. 'The nature of children needing care is that it's not necessarily a role whereby you can work nine to five,' says Czech. 'In an ideal world, foster kids should have their own bedroom so that they've got their own space. That's not necessarily a requirement, but it's just that question of how much space, and time, does a household have to take on a foster child?' Australia is not the only country facing a shortage of carers, with the UK among nations also recording a shortfall between retiring and new applicants. There are extreme shortages of carers for large sibling groups, teens and children with complex needs. But Australia's intense housing problem, whereby Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane are all in the top ten least affordable global cities, creates a particular challenge to policymakers. Last year, almost 73% of Australia's 2.2 million couple families with young children had two employed parents, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data. A decade ago, it was 61%. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email While some of that change is linked to choices within households about workforce participation, much of the extra work is born from financial necessity. Many industry participants say the solution to the foster care crunch is twofold. First, state governments need to invest more in early intervention, kinship and home-based care models to take the pressure off the foster system. And governments need to provide more support to slow down, or reverse, the decline in carer numbers. 'We need to stem the flow of kids needing out-of-home care, but there will always be a need for carers,' says Czech. 'Carers are worth their weight in gold, and we need more of them.' A lack of foster carers has resulted in many kids being placed in emergency accommodation, such as hotels, motels and serviced apartments, where they are looked after by a rotating roster of workers. This is bad for the children, and is hideously expensive for taxpayers, with costs as high as $2m a year for each child. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The NSW government recently banned so-called alternative care arrangements, although their use persists in other states. The NSW government also recently announced a 20% lift in the foster care allowance as it tries to arrest a slide in carer numbers. The new rate means the carer of a typical five-year-old child receives a tax-free allowance of just over $787 per fortnight, according to the state government, which is the highest rate in the country. Barnardos Australia chief executive Deirdre Cheers says the burden of living costs is hard to shift, even with the increased allowance. 'It's a really good thing, and New South Wales is leading the way there,' says Cheers. 'But the reality is that many people don't have room in their house, or they need to work one, or even two jobs to keep their own family afloat. 'We need people who are not just providing a bed, but who can be actively involved.' Victoria's allowance rates are among the lowest in the country, and it's no coincidence that the state is losing carers at a rapid rate. In 2023-24, 429 carer households left the Victorian system, and just 162 joined, according to AIHW data. Rowan Pulford, a policy adviser at the Foster Care Association of Victoria, says the cost of not investing in foster care is enormous. 'You either invest in foster carers or you spend the money elsewhere,' says Pulford, who is also a carer. 'Emergency placements and residential care are not only hugely expensive, but also incredibly damaging to the child. 'The life trajectory of those children can also be really poor.' While raising allowances will help keep some carers in the system and encourage some prospective carers to join, there's no easy fix. Many organisations are looking to retiring baby boomers as part of the answer, given they are the largest group with spare bedrooms. As a cohort, they have a high rate of home ownership, and many own their properties outright. That could be part of the solution; however, even retirees with robust bank balances are being affected by cost-of-living pressures, given many are now caring for their grandchildren as their own children grapple with intensifying work commitments. In Sydney, Anglicare has kept its number of carers stable, even as the wider sector sheds numbers. The chief executive of Anglicare Sydney, Simon Miller, says foster carers need support to stay in the system, especially in an era of cost-of-living pressures. The organisation has adopted a model tested overseas called the 'foster circle' whereby a carer's local community, which usually includes the local church, steps in to help the carer household. This can include cooking meals, babysitting and financial assistance, along with care for the household's biological children. 'This model has been hugely successful in reducing the turnover of carers and helps carers actually stick out when times are tough,' says Miller, referring to its success in the US and UK. 'We do think that it would be a really good thing if this type of initiative was adopted by the wider sector. 'As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. We think it really does take a village to care for a foster child.'
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘We have no support': foster carers take employment rights fight to UK supreme court
Louise* starts her workday getting the children breakfast and ready for school. After drop-off, she attends meetings, completes training and works through a growing pile of paperwork. She's also on standby as there's almost always a call to collect a child if there's been an issue at school. Then there's everything else that comes with parenting: GP and dentist appointments, buying clothes, arranging therapeutic support, and managing what's known as 'contact' with the children's birth parents. The problem for Louise, and thousands of foster carers across the country, is that they are not considered to be workers. Although their jobs are vital, this lack of recognition means they have no annual leave, no sick pay and no guarantee they won't face consequences just for raising concerns. 'It is a 24-hours-a-day job,' said Louise, who has been a foster carer for 14 years. 'I've had to take children to hospital. I've had a particular child who has been bed-wetting, so then I'm up changing beds. Or I've got a child that really cannot sleep.' Esme*, who has been fostering for more than a decade, said she and her husband had calculated their earnings at just 80p an hour. 'We must be the most exploited workers in the country,' she said. 'We care 24/7 for some of society's most vulnerable children, follow care plans, attend meetings, keep records, do training, be on hand for surprise inspections, yet we have no rights or protections whatsoever. Most foster carers are relying upon universal credit to get by.' Carers told the Guardian that while the role had professionalised over the past 30 years, pay and conditions had not kept pace. Chloe*, another foster carer, described the constant fear of children being removed if they raised concerns. When a disciplinary case is opened, 'you just have to back down and pray that it comes out in your favour'. All three women spoke only on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal from the agencies and local authorities they work with. In January, three foster carers won a landmark legal case, with a tribunal judge ruling they had the right to bring discrimination and whistleblowing claims to an employment tribunal. Now, they are taking their fight for full employment rights to the supreme court. 'At the moment, they treat these people as glorified babysitters that they can just kick out when they feel like it,' said Robin Findlay, the founder and general secretary of the National Union of Professional Foster Carers (NUPFC). 'That's why there are more foster carers leaving than there are joining. 'Some local authorities say 'well, they're not employees, so we don't have to treat them like one. They're self-employed. We can call them in when we need them and get rid of them when we don't.'' The NUPFC was launched in 2017 and operates around the clock. 'We have a morning briefing at seven in the morning and a night-time briefing at 10 o'clock at night – seven days a week,' Findlay said. He described how carers who repeatedly asked for more support or funding often faced retaliation. 'Those on the panel will have been briefed from the start: 'We've got to get rid of this one, she's a troublemaker.' She's asking too much, more money for shoes, for this and that, and it's affecting their profit margin.' Anger is growing over the rising role of private equity in the sector. Nearly a quarter of all foster placements in England are now provided by private companies making millions in profit. Foster carers say they are being squeezed while corporate agencies cash in. Esme criticised independent fostering agencies openly advertising that struggling carers could apply for universal credit, while making a fortune off the back of their labour. 'No one working 24/7 should be left struggling to cover their basic living costs,' she said. 'British taxpayers are paying twice: once for the overpriced foster placements bought from private agencies, and then again for benefits to cover foster carers' basic living expenses. 'The benefit system is propping up this entire broken model. That should be enough to cause public outrage.' The number of foster carers in England has now sunk to a 10-year low. Clare Ward, who recently stopped fostering after 13 years and is a representative for the FCWU, said: 'Foster carers are leaving in droves and it's not just because of the finances. It's because of that lack of respect, and we have no rights to protect us. 'We bring so much skill, experience and education to the role. People think we are providing essentially bed and breakfast and a loving home to children, but in reality we're running minor mental health units 24 hours a day in our homes with the country's most vulnerable children who have all been traumatised. And we're asked to support and advocate for these children without any power. We often end up vulnerable and traumatised ourselves. We have no support.' Ward is backing a campaign for a bill of rights for foster carers, including an independent central registration body to uphold professional standards and prevent local authorities or agencies from 'weaponising' children against carers. 'If you've got children that you're looking after but you've got a major issue with your employer, or say you're burnt out, you're exhausted, whatever it may be, they'll say 'we'll have to take the children off you then',' she said. 'And these could be children that you've loved for years and years. So you struggle on. That's really hard. There needs to be independent support.' Ward described the current system of allowances as a postcode lottery. 'You're constantly on the cliff-edge of financial ruin,' she said. 'In some areas, foster carers are paid by the household rather than by the child. So you might be looking after three children, and you're being given the same allowance as somebody looking after one.' *Names have been changed
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Lydia Bright says foster children being failed by state
Reality TV personality Lydia Bright has called for more help for foster children when they leave care at 18 years old, saying they are being "failed" by the Only Way Is Essex (Towie) star grew up alongside foster siblings, and her parents have continued to foster for more than 30 years."You cannot just wash your hands with these vulnerable young adults at 18 and expect them to just go on and thrive in society," Bright told the BBC."They need the support, we're letting go of them too young and we're setting them up for failure." 'Can't let go' Bright has been guest editing the BBC Essex Breakfast Show throughout this said her parents had fostered ever since she could remember, describing it as "a massive part of my world".The 34-year-old questioned whether any 18-year-old could live independently and feared there was a risk these children could fall into gangs and crime."The state is these young adults' parents, and they are failing them," said Bright, who found fame on Towie in 2010."A lot of [foster carers] feel like at 18, their duty's done, and my mum's belief is that when you do have a foster child, they are with you for life - you can't let go." About 800 children were in foster care in Essex at the beginning of 2025, with 492 foster carers in the County Council cabinet member for children's services, John Spence, has said "foster care is under threat" due to the falling numbers of families coming a foster child turns 16 years old, the local council must write a "pathway plan" which helps them prepare for leaving care, including plans for health, education and financial 18, a foster child is no longer in the care system, although local authorities must provide support until they are 25, including assigning a personal adviser who stays in touch once.A foster child may stay with their foster family beyond 18 up to the age of 21 under a Staying Put arrangement, but Bright told presenter Sonia Watson the system needed changing."Foster carers can't afford to keep their child placement within the Staying Put scheme because the fees are reduced dramatically; you don't get the usual fee that you would get for the child," she said."Some people rely on that, it's their career, they rely on that to pay their bills – so it's not always available." BBC presenter and author Ashley John-Baptiste, who grew up in several care settings, echoed the concerns."You tell me one 18-year-old person who you would say is ready to live as a fully-fledged adult – it's just not possible, let alone when you're a looked-after child," he told BBC Essex."It's what they call it when you turn 18 – 'the care cliff' – because you get forms of support as a looked-after child and teenager, and the moment you turn 18, the vast majority of that support goes away." Support A Department for Education spokesperson said that the children's social care system it inherited was "failing to meet the needs of the country's most vulnerable children"."The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks the biggest overhaul of children's social care in a generation and is a key step towards delivering the government's mission to break the link between young people's background and their future success."They continued: "That's why, as part of our Plan for Change, key measures will include introducing new corporate parenting responsibilities on the government and providing stay close support for care leavers."Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea City Council and Thurrock Council all said they were committed to supporting care leavers. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
