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The Value of External Support Services when Children Transition into Foster Care: An Example of a Volunteering Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2015

Michael Nycyk ,
John Rigsby-Jones  and
Margaret Redsell
Michael Nycyk*
Affiliation:
School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts, Curtin University of Technology, Kent Street, Bentley WA 6102
John Rigsby-Jones
Affiliation:
Chief Executive Officer, Inala Youth Service, 111 Inala Avenue, Inala QLD 4077
Margaret Redsell
Affiliation:
Program Manager, Skylarkers 60 and Better Healthy Ageing Program, 20 Skylark Street, Inala QLD 4077
*
address for correspondence: Michael Nycyk, Skylarkers 60 and Better Healthy Ageing Program, 20 Skylark Street, INALA QLD 4077. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

When children are removed from their homes in an emergency situation they leave behind some or all of those familiar items they consider their own. The loss of this sense of ownership, combined with the shock of moving to an unfamiliar foster environment, can leave them afraid, traumatised and emotionally scarred. A group of volunteers addressed this by forming the Love and Care project in Brisbane, Australia. The aim of this project is to provide kits to children from birth to 17 years of age upon them being placed in foster care. These care kits, containing clothing, school supplies, toys and other items, fill a need for the children to have something they can hold on to and call their own. This paper demonstrates the value of an external support service that can play a substantial part in maximising better outcomes for children transitioning into foster care. It aims to describe the structure and practices of Love and Care and, from the lessons learnt through observation of the project practices that created and sustained it, to make recommendations. It also briefly addresses the importance of including external services in the evaluation and research of foster children's outcomes.

Keywords

Child fosteringexternal support servicesvolunteeringevaluation
Type
Practice Commentary
Information
Children Australia , Volume 40 , Issue 4: OUT OF HOME CARE-REFLECTING ON THE PAST AND ENVISIONING FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS , December 2015 , pp. 367 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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