A big thank you to foster and kinship carers

Foster and Kinship carers are critical individuals in our community ensuring our state’s most vulnerable children and young people have a safe and supportive place to call home.
 
Minister for Families and Communities and Minister for Disability Services Natasha Maclaren-Jones said this Foster and Kinship Care Week is a time to acknowledge the invaluable work that our carers do across NSW. 
 
“Every child deserves to grow up in a safe and loving home,” Mrs Maclaren-Jones said.
 
“To take a child who needs help into your home is the epitome of community spirit.
 
“We have 12,600 carer households across the state and I thank each and every one who ensure children and young people in need have a nurturing and supportive home.
 
“The work out-of-home care service providers do to recruit carers and provide safe homes for vulnerable children is crucial and I thank every one of our providers for the incredible work they do.”
 
Vikki Minard became a carer in 2009 and has had more than 30 children pass through her home.
 
“I thought I would be changing the lives of children, but the children changed me,” Ms Minard said.
 
“It made me a more flexible and open-minded person, handling the children and the various situations they were in.”
 
Simon Rowe and his wife Anne have been caring for children for more than three years.
 
“It’s not as onerous as people may think and it exposes you to a better side of yourself, helping you to become a more generous and understanding person,” Mr Rowe said.
 
To learn more about becoming a foster carer visit myforeverfamily.org.au/