Foster carer training
Our department is committed to providing Getting ready to start and Starting out training for foster carers to support the development of the skills and knowledge required to provide quality care to children and young people in care.
Foster carer training is recognised as critically important to enable carers to perform their role, not only in meeting the daily care needs of a child, but also in partnering with other key stakeholders to plan strategies to resolve protective needs.
Foster carer training is a competency-based training package consisting of three levels: Getting ready to start, Starting out and Continuous Learning.
The training package recognises the need for foster carers to acquire knowledge and skills prior to approval and allows foster carers and workers to jointly assess the practical application of that knowledge in the first years of caring while also providing ongoing skill development in recognition of the complexity of the role. The Foster carer training package has been designed to enable flexible and timely delivery, including training in small groups, self-paced online learning and one to one delivery.
To ensure quality and consistency in delivery of training content and assessment of competencies, certain knowledge and experience are encouraged.
It is recognised that in rural and remote communities an officer of our department or experienced foster carer may assist in providing information and the training resources to a prospective foster carer.
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Foster carer training guidelines
Guidelines for foster care training.
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Getting ready to start training
Getting ready to start training.
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Learning journal
The learning journal is an opportunity for the foster carer to reflect on their role as a carer and look for opportunities for learning and skill development.
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Starting out training
Following initial approval as a foster carer, our department or licensed care service providing support to the foster carer will ensure that each foster carer has an individualised learning plan, recorded as part of their Foster Carer Agreement.
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Caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
In addition to the standard training, a module titled Caring for Jarjums has been developed for non-indigenous carers caring for Indigenous children. Caring for Jarjums in not a compulsory module however completion is strongly recommended.
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Continuous learning
Continuous learning is flexible and based on the foster carer's specific learning needs.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments are extended in relation to the knowledge, expertise and support in the development of the Quality care: Foster care training package.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence