Short-term care

Some of the most dramatic stories of transformation have come from short-term care families.

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Short-term care is simply called that because the foster-carers, as well as the court, intend for the placement to finish and the child to be either reunited with their well-functioning family of origin, or placed permanently with a long-term family.

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It is preferred that children be raised in their family of origin, and if there is any possibility of reunification and building a family unit that functions well for them to flourish, that is always the best option. Consequently, there is a great need for short-term carers to parent kids who are waiting for some of these issues to be resolved.

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Short-term care can range from a few weeks up to 2 years, while courts deliberate on the best future for a child and sometimes their siblings. In that time, short-term carers make an extraordinary difference in providing stability, teaching life-skills to these kids, giving them a safe routine, and helping them cope and prepare for the future.

Story from a

short-term carer:

We took on 9 month old Sam. He had unfortunately been moved from 3 different placements before he came to us. The moves were nothing to do with him, but it resulted in him being disconnected little boy who feared new people. Within a few weeks of constant one-on-one attention he began to attach and learnt to trust us. It was such a joy for us to see that when a new person entered the room he ran to us for comfort. He went on to be able to attach well to his permanent family a few months later because he had learnt to trust us. Time invested in these kids makes a big difference to their futures