Sam, Child Safety Officer

Sam hasn’t had the easiest path in life. But after raising her own children and successfully breaking the cycle, she decided to study social work and help other families doing it tough. Empathetic and non-judgemental, Sam is the perfect fit for her role as a Child Safety Officer, and she bravely uses her lived experience to help change the course of children’s lives.

Committed to caring

For children under the care of Child Safety, car rides can feel like journeys into the unknown. Often, it means a temporary placement has ended and they’re on the way to somewhere new and unfamiliar. This can bring up a lot of emotions - worry, sadness, anxiety, and fear. When Sam is behind the wheel, she does everything she can to reassure and relax them.

I’m not a fan of the word resilience. Kids' feelings are really important - I couldn’t imagine having to change houses every few months, right when you’ve just started to get settled. It’s understandable that they’re a bit shocked and confused, so I want them to feel safe to communicate what’s happening for them and know that I’m here to listen to their worries.

After we’ve had a bit of a talk, we crank up the music and sing, eat McDonald’s and play car games like ‘I spy’. I really try to keep the car trips light and fun so they feel more relaxed by the time we get to their new placement. The last thing I do before they arrive is reassure them that I’m still going to be there to support them, they can call or message me if they’re worried about anything and I can come and see them. That commitment is important to me. I want them to know I’m going to be there for them for as long as it takes.

It’s a safe, stable presence Sam could have used when she was a child. Facing challenges at home, she sought support from the department at 15 and found refuge in a residential care home. At 17, she welcomed her first daughter and was determined to provide her children with a nurturing environment. She focused on raising them at home, returning to full-time retail work once they’d grown up.

I engage well with people, and I found that a lot of customers would open up to me about their stories and stressors. It wasn’t unusual for me to be talking to someone for 45 minutes because they’ve had a bad day or a bad life. It was quite a physical job and I had multiple injuries, so I knew I needed to step back but I wanted to keep being that listening ear. So, I decided to work part-time while studying counselling and social work.

I was 43 when I first started university, so it had been 27 years since I’d left school. It was absolutely terrifying, but it had always been a goal of mine to go to uni one day, so I did it. My husband and children cheered me on through the whole thing, and as a result, I got away from retail and found a career that I love and I’m really proud of.

Stability and support

As part of Sam’s degree, she was sent on two industry placements - the first was in a community health organisation and the second was with Child Safety. The thought of working for the department made Sam sceptical, to say the least.

It was the last place I wanted to work. I thought it would be too triggering. But my lecturer said to me, ‘Sam, go and try it out. Some of our best Child Safety Officers have been in care themselves.’ I pretty quickly realised that it was a space where I could use my life experiences to my advantage, and I saw the opportunity to bring children and families back together after really challenging times.

Sam gained experience across all stages of the child protection continuum during her placement but found the long-term support cases the most rewarding. Her extraordinary empathy and relationship-building skills are ideally suited to being a safe, stable person families can rely on to be there for them, wherever their journey takes them.

People seem to think that once children are under orders and in the care of foster families, things will all be settled. But that’s definitely not the case. I just try to guide them through life’s obstacles like any parent would do, and encourage them to make good decisions for themselves. We just hope to give our young people enough stability to be able to deal with whatever comes as they transition from care.

On the last day of Sam’s placement, she interviewed for a permanent role as a Child Safety Officer in Roma. She’d been a city girl her whole life, but the opportunities that came with the tree change were too good to pass up.

There was nothing like driving into town and seeing 40 emus with all their chicks on the side of the road. I had a great experience and learned some valuable skills about how the department works in remote places. The support offered in terms of housing subsidies and rural payments was a really great draw card, too.

Breaking the cycle

After three years in Roma, Sam yearned to be closer to her family, who were a six-hour drive away in Brisbane. When an opportunity arose to move to Kingaroy, only a two-and-a-half-hour drive away, she gladly accepted, and now gets to see them as often as possible.

I have a really good relationship with my three kids. I actively raised them trying to do the opposite of what my own childhood was like - I’ve always been supportive of them and kept an open dialogue.

I was never a perfect parent - no one is. You've just got to do the best you can with what you've got and try not to pass your trauma onto your kids. Kids need adults to keep them safe. That’s important to me.

The work Sam does with the department has also allowed her to heal her own past wounds. Sam has Aboriginal heritage on both sides of her family, but her grandparents died young, so she was never able to fully connect to her culture. She works closely with our Cultural Practice Advisors to ensure other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children don’t experience the same disconnection she did.

We print out cultural safety plans for our little people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander to help them create their own identity in care when they’re away from their family. We really want them to learn the stories of their culture, mob, country, family and connections because historically, a lot of that has been lost.

I put it at the forefront of everything I do with the kids. We put photos in it, talk about what they know, and even get them actively involved in cultural camps, smoking ceremonies, whatever it may be to reconnect them to who they are and where they've come from.

For Sam, moments like these reaffirm that changing the course of her career was the right choice. It’s not easy work, especially when Sam’s reminded of her own lived experience, but she sees it as a privilege to play a role in helping children and families build the better futures they deserve.

This is a rough start in life, but it doesn’t mean their whole life is going to be rough. In really difficult situations, we make space for them to just be kids, to engage in activities they enjoy and be encouraged when they make good choices. Seeing kids grow up happy, connected and loved, having changed the cycle of their families, makes me really happy.