Pathways to Stability is Key Assets program providing intensive support over 12 – 18 months. The aim is to transition children with complex emotional and behavioural needs, who have been in residential care arrangements, into a highly supported fostering environment to prepare them for permanence through either reunification to family, long-term fostering or preparation for independence.
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The problem we are trying to solve
Children and young people who have spent time in Residential Care have the poorest outcomes of all children in Out-of-Home Care, having the highest rates of involvement in the youth justice system, the lowest rates of school attendance and the poorest life-long outcomes for employment, mental and physical health in adulthood. It is also well known that young people who leave care without the benefit of strong links to a family often experience homelessness in their first year of independence.
By using a specialist approach to fostering, we can take children from a residential environment and place them in the care of a family who will devote the time and energy, with the support of a team of professionals wrapped around the placement, to give that child a route to positive and lasting outcomes. Our program intends to not only transition a child successfully from residential to a fostering family environment, but prepare for permanence through either reunification, long term fostering or preparation for independence in alignment with the Out-of-Home-Care Outcomes Framework.
What You Will Receive
- 24/7 coaching and support
- Weekly visits from a dedicated social worker, therapist and other relevant professionals tailored to the child’s needs.
- Receive a Carer Development Plan created through the assessment or at the start of a placement
- Receive comprehensive training and support from our professional staff including your own Social Worker.
What You Will Need
Definitely not one size fits all, but we are looking for individuals/couples who :
- Willing to care/welcome a child into your home.
- Have the capacity to care for a child who needs therapeutic reparative care.
- Be able to provide positive reinforcement in your home environment
- Have experience interacting with children & young people with various complex needs between the ages of 10 to 17 years of age or have capacity to learn
- Be able to provide full time care as a Primary Carer. Flexible working arrangements are ok if your work enables you to be flexible to attend frequent appointments & meet the child’s specific needs.
- Have a suitable living environment, including a spare bedroom
- Are over 25 years of age.
- Have the ability to champion positive change for children & young people
- Have empathy and willingness to learn about complex needs & trauma.
Training
It is compulsory for everyone to complete shared lives training before they can be assessed to become an approved Foster Carer. If you are applying as a couple, both partners must attend, even though one of you may not be the main carer. We run our shared lives training over 2.5 days.
- Part 1 Shared Lives – face-to-face and Part 2 Shared Lives – online 2-3 hours.
- Management of Actual or Potential training – face-to-face – 1 day
- VR training – face-to-face – 2 x 2 hour sessions
Support
We believe that providing a high level of foster care support is crucial to the stability of a foster placement. It is also central to our Key Care Team Model of practice which is at the heart of everything we do.