How we help carers

Posted on 1 March 2019
Category News

What does the Carer Support Team do?

The Carer Support Team exists to help carers provide children and young people with the stability, care and nurture they need to thrive.  

We do this by focussing on three key areas: recruiting new carers, supporting both new and experienced carers, and advocating within the sector to address issues that are causing problems for carers.  

Recruitment

You may have seen our social media and advertising campaigns encouraging more people to consider becoming carers.  When an interested person calls or emails us, or talks to us at an event, we take the time to answer their questions, find out more about them and refer them to a foster care agency in their area.   

Support 

It won’t be a surprise to hear that the better-supported carers are, the better the outcomes are for the kids they care for. Our Carer Support Team make a real difference supporting carers who support vulnerable children by providing guidance and listening ears. 

Making sure our carers not only feel supported but are given useful information and advice about their rights and responsibilities is a key part of our work.  

Sometimes when a situation becomes more complicated than usual, we support carers more directly.  Below you can read some glowing feedback from a carer who recently received individual support from one of our team members. 

Advocacy 

We also work alongside various partners in the sector, including FaCS, foster care agencies, and the Office of the Children’s Guardian. 

MFF collects data* about the types of problems and questions that we help carers with – so that we can identify common issues, and advocate with our sector partners to address these issues.  

We want to retain the wonderful carers that we have – those who have already done the hard yards and have so much more to offer kids.   This is where our recruitment, support and advocacy come full circle – the better we can support and advocate for carers, the more likely they are to continue in their fantastic roles and inspire others around them to step up and become carers.  

*(Data is de-identified in accordance with our privacy policies)