Katie

Katie and her husband Greg are a couple who live in Tasmania. They both come from big families and they always knew they wanted a big family of their own. As well as being a foster carer at Life Without Barriers, Katie is also a carer ambassador and care assessor. She attends local Tassie events to meet people who are thinking about becoming carers, and she may also be on the other end of the phone during the assessment process.

As Katie has been on the inquirer end, a carer, and an ambassador, she has a wealth of knowledge about all things care. 19 years of experience and knowledge in fact, and today – she is sharing that knowledge with us.

What kind of care do you provide?

"My family and I provide permanent (long-term) care with one child, emergency and after-hours care, and respite care and probably reunification as well. You could say all kinds of care, actually."

Why did you decide to become foster carers?

"Greg's from a big family, I am from a big family, and we got married when I was young. I was only 21 when I got married and 22 when we had our first child. We just knew straight away that we wanted to have a really big family.

"We had four kids of our own, then I really felt like I wanted to adopt overseas. But that wasn't meant to be for us.

What sort of training did you receive?

"I'm so passionate about the training, I think about how much the system has changed and how much everyone in the sector has grown. There is constantly new research and new studies to learn from. If you're a carer, your deepest passion is to provide care for that child, and to see them reach their goals and be all that they're meant to be.

"Life Without Barriers offers great training, but I'll go to others too. Australian Childhood Foundation runs a great trauma training and I am studying my Bachelor of Social Work. I want to get a deeper understanding of what's happening – I will study anything I can get my hands on."

What advice do you have for someone thinking about becoming a carer?

"The first thing to do, and sometimes the hardest thing to do, is have that conversation with your family or with your partner. Ask them, ‘do we want to do this together?’ Because honestly, I just would not have been able to do it without Greg.

"We've got six biological children and four of them are adults, and two of those have already done the training to be foster carers. So that says to me that it must be a family decision.

"Then, you actually make a phone call and keep exploring incrementally, you keep going and, if it's not right for you, then you stop. You don't know if it's going to be right for you or not unless you take the first step.

"It is a long procedure as well. Some people come to the training and they go right, let's be foster carers! However, the assessment process is about 30 hours."

Is there a special way that you prepare your house for a new child or young person to come in?

"When our kids were still quite young, it would take a bit of preparation, to speak to them, to know what was happening. I would ask questions too: 'Who's a young person? Have we met them before? Have they got family or siblings? How long are they going to be in care for?'

"Now that we've been carers for such a long time, we just say OK, is this situation an emergency? If so, then I need to take more care around how that child is going to be feeling. I ask myself; ‘how can I create that space for them?’"

Do you feel like you can come to Life Without Barriers with issues?

"Absolutely I do. I think newer carers don't quite know when to, or they don't know whether it's a substantial issue to be able to ask for support. I always encourage carers to reach out to the team for advice.

Do you have any favourite moments?

"We have lots of favourite moments in our house. Our little person at the moment just thinks she's an amazing dancer. We encourage her and support her, and she goes off to ballet, jazz, and tap. She really doesn't dance well at all, she can't sing either – but she loves to sing at the top of her voice, and we just love her joy.

"They’re the best moments, the everyday moments, and I know there's a key tag for Life Without Barriers, but it is about that.

"It is about getting her report and reading how she's kind and she's gentle and she's empathetic and she likes sharing and she loves art. Just reading about her and knowing that we've played a part in making her life what it is that she's grounded and that she's rounded, we love taking joy from that.

What is your experience with reunification?

"Reunification is amazing. It's just so wonderful, and every child that comes in, I just hope that's what their case is going to be like. As carers, we want that whenever it is possible. Sadly, out of the hundreds of kids that we've fostered over the years, it hasn't happened very often. I think it's only happened four or five times.

"Usually, everyone knows from the start that the goal is reunification and everybody's energies and efforts to go towards getting this child home. If that doesn’t happen for whatever reason, then you change tactics.

"It is important to let carers know what is happening so that they can best support the child.

Image: Foster care ambassador Katie standing outside. She is facing away from the camera and 'Be a Foster Carer ask me how' is printed on her shirt.

Tell us about what it is like to speak to people interested in foster care.

"It's my favourite thing to do ever. It is all about having a conversation. I can be at an event, or just out socialising, as soon as they find out that I am a foster carer, you pique interest instantly in some people.

"There are so many genuine people that really have a heart for helping children. Often, they already have skills that vulnerable children need of people.

"I really try and draw out what people can bring to the table, how keen they are to keep training and learning. I like to know how they raised their own children, what sort of relationships they have with their wider families and their networks.