Foster carers support Victoria's most vulnerable children. However, new data shows they are leaving the system in droves due to rising costs and red tape. Child welfare advocates are now concerned about the future of children in out-of-home care.
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00:00Family time is a staple for many, but for in-demand foster carers, it's a luxury often
00:08sacrificed in their role.
00:10As soon as they'd left, we'd get another call within a day or two for another kid to be
00:15placed with us.
00:16It just felt like we were constantly being asked.
00:21Greg Lacey left the foster care system two years ago.
00:24He was both burnt out and underperforming at work.
00:28With kids who have higher needs and more complex backgrounds, it was difficult to actually
00:34hold down a full-time job without having some sort of impact.
00:37The latest carer census found more than 60% of respondents placed financial strain as
00:43one of their biggest challenges.
00:45Carers here in Victoria received the lowest amount of compensation allowance in Australia.
00:51The real cost of caring for a child is increasing and yet the real value of the care allowance
00:57is decreasing.
00:58And new data shows there are fewer people choosing to be foster carers.
01:03The number of active carer households in Victoria dropped by 5.2% this year, a trend that's
01:10continued since the pandemic.
01:12The carers leaving the system aren't all being replaced.
01:16The number of people training to become accredited has also fallen by 18%.
01:22That's meant that many kids have ended up in residential care instead.
01:26Kids deserve to be in a loving, supported family environment where possible.
01:33And without that, the life trajectory for a child in residential care is clearly not
01:40as good as for a child in foster care.
01:43Many of them now, because there aren't enough foster carers, are being sexualised, one in
01:48two are ending up in the criminal system, and we are seeing incredible drug use.
01:53But the state government maintains it's supporting foster carers by indexing allowances every
01:57year and committing $38 million to improving home-based care.
02:03But for many carers, it's not enough to halt their exit.
02:06It was thoroughly enjoyable, but it was very draining as well.
02:13As foster carers, we are not social workers, we are not psychologists or anything like that.
02:19A system in need of care.
02:23Thank you.
02:24Thank you.