Finding Ways Forward: Celebrating Identity, Culture, Families and Community

8 July 2022

Join Life Without Barriers at the International and National Foster and Kinship Carer Conference (IFCO2022).

Two young girls are sitting outside on top of yellow leaves hugging and smiling.

Registrations are now open to join the 2022 International and National Foster and Kinship Carer Conference in Darwin.

This year's theme is Finding Ways Forward: Celebrating Identity, Culture, Families and Community. Come together with other stakeholders to share and understand the role and responsibilities in supporting children and young people in care.

Life Without Barriers is a proud sponsor of this year's event. We look forward to coming together with our sector and community leaders to have important conversations about the roles we all play in supporting and protecting young people in care.

Teams from across Life Without Barriers will be sharing their expertise and insights on the following topics.

Building bright futures through education and learning, Every day, Every way.

Clea North and Michelle Murray from the Education team will be presenting on the 4 pillars of the Education strategy: Lifelong Learners, Confident Caregivers, Purposeful Partnerships and Focused Organisation.

In their presentation, they will provide Carer insights and engagement in the Education strategy and information about the upcoming Hook into Books program. Clea will also share strategies for embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' perspectives in education, support and connection.

It takes a Village - The importance of parent, carer, and case manager relationships in reunification.

Shannon Goodridge, NSW Practice Lead, will lead a panel discussion with five participants: two parents, two Carers, and Rebecca Reed, Case Manager. They will explore the concepts of CARE as the approach to build family inclusive practice for children.

Drawing on the lived experience of Carers, and parents with children in care, they will highlight how they all felt and experienced family inclusive practice. They will share how the Carers took up the role of allies and advocates for the parents, and how this positively improved reunification outcomes for children.

Yarning together: co-designing CARE cards to support reflective practice that embeds children’s rights to connection with family, community and culture.

A workshop facilitated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialist Cultural team focusing on CARE cards. This will include small group activities, and all participants will have the opportunity to engage in small group conversations.

A lot of children don’t get heard. Children do tell the truth, and no one hears them: actioning the voices of children in care.

This workshop, delivered by Dr Belinda Mayfield, will focus on a Life Without Barriers project to develop and evaluate a comprehensive recruitment and assessment framework, together with a training package and practice resources for staff undertaking Carer assessments.

The workshop will look at key messages from the research about risks and early warning signs, dispelling commonly held myths about the risks of child sexual abuse and how we can better assess, educate and support Foster Carers.

MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY™ - Connecting Carers, Children and Families in Community.

This interactive workshop will provide an overview of the MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY™ model, sharing the initial research findings of its implementation. There will be an opportunity for interaction with a panel of Carers, practitioners, researchers, and departmental representatives involved with the Australian MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY™ experience.

The panel will be complemented with research observations of outcomes associated with microsystem strengthening for the Foster Carers, and children and young people, involved.

The International & National Foster Care Conference will be held on the 22 – 25 September in Darwin. Visit the International & National Foster Care website to register.

Your registration will include: