Tag: Foster Care

Barb stepped into a part-time Foster Care Chaplain role, not knowing exactly what it would look like but with the support of Lifehouse Church leadership who wanted the church to start engaging in the Foster Care space in some way. The leadership team had been reimagining the possibilities for local mission and were aware of …

Communicating thoughtfully about Out-of-Home Care. As a leader talking about Out-of-home Care – foster care, kinship care, permanent care or guardianship – from the platform or within your church community, you may bring your own lived experience of the system and those navigating it, or you might be brand new to the space. If it’s …

Help lead a movement for change. Be a champion for The Homeward Project in your community. Partner with The Homeward Project to spread the word, raise awareness, and rally people around the mission of seeing more homes for children who need one and support for carers opening their homes. Download the Homeward Advocate resource below …

Explore your potential next steps towards Foster Care. If you’re wondering if Foster Care is for you, even if you’re still unsure, Foster Care: First Steps is for you. ‘First Steps’ will help deepen your understanding of a faith-based and holistic approach to Foster Care and help you to consider your readiness to pursue it. …

A Homeward Project Info Session is one of the best ways you can engage and mobilise your church in a ministry of Out-of-Home Care. We’re not all called to do the same thing, but we can all do something. A Homeward Info Session for everyone. We’ll equip and support you to plan and host an …

Creating opportunities for connection among those who are, have been, or want to be a carer. Carer Gatherings create a space for carers to regularly connect with others who have a shared experience, in order to support and equip them in their care journey. Gatherings can provide support through prayer, encouragement, and learning opportunities for …

You’ve heard it said, probably hundreds of times, that it takes a village to raise a child. Easy to say, perhaps harder to do. There are an increasing number of children entering the Out-of-Home Care system because their family of birth isn’t safe. Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly being recognised as a major issue …

Moriah is a Foster Carer in Melbourne, Australia. She shared with us about her experience of fostering and her motivation behind stepping into this space. I’m an Emergency and Respite Foster Carer and I look after children and teenagers for anything from one night up to one week or so at a time. I foster …

A practical way to support family restoration. Family visitations are an important part of the process of working towards restoration for families who have been separated. Where decisions are made to facilitate contact between children in care and their families, a safe and consistent space is needed to host visits. The nature and frequency of …

The local Church can help transform Out-of-Home Care in your community. The Discovery Guide will show you how. Full of practical resources, ideas and stories, the Discovery Guide is an online resource that will equip you to build a model of ongoing model of foster carer recruitment and support where every member of your church …

ARK Communities exist so that carers, whether new or experienced, can connect, support, encourage and grow together. Foster carers, Respite carers, Permanent carers or Adoptive parents all come together to build deep relationships, create a network of support, and provide a ‘village’ for the kids in their care. ARK Communities form ‘extended family’ for each …

Hillsong Brisbane Central have been providing a space for use by Mt Gravatt Child Safety Service Centre as part of the process of families being reunited. We spoke to them to find out about what it looks like. “If we’re going to be a church Monday through to Sunday, we need to be ‘alive’ during …

We asked Michelle – an accredited Mental Health Social Worker with decades of experience in child protection working with children who have an experience of trauma and their carers – what advice would you give to someone entering into Foster Care? Talk to other carers to find out the reality. There’s an idea of Foster …

Building a holistic support system for care families. We want carers to have a ‘team’, for the highs and lows and everything in between on the journey of providing home-based care for children and young people. The Wrap-around Teams resource equips a carer’s ‘team’ with understanding and practical plans to provide a range of support …

There are people in your church who would make a really great mentor and we want to equip you to mobilise them to make a difference within the Out-of-Home Care space in your local community.  COACH Mentoring is a community-strengthening initiative that empowers individuals and families through one-to-one mentoring, breaking generational cycles of poverty and …

The outcomes for children who’ve been in Out of Home Care do not tell a good story. Regardless of the reasons for it, separation from family is a traumatic experience. This trauma is often compounded by multiple placements resulting from any combination of the impacts of trauma, ill-equipped carers, or decisions being made by a …