A foster care program that links up parents to create an extended family-like environment has helped improve carer retention and created better placement stability for children — with the program's facilitator now looking to further expand the program across the country.
The Mockingbird foster program is supporting 50 vulnerable children in state care across South Australia.Adelaide Hills foster carer Julie Critchley knows it takes a village to raise a child.
The program, run by Life Without Barriers, connects six to 10 foster families to make a "constellation" with an experienced carer as a central port-of-call for advice and a helping hand. "I was able to come and get the child and had her for a couple of nights – it's the sort of thing that departments can't do, they just don't have the capacity as it was on a weekend.Ms Critchley says Mockingbird does not have the "constraints" of DCP and can support carers outside the Monday to Friday work week.Mockingbird started in New South Wales in 2019 but has shown the most growth in South Australia.
"The carers were telling me the children in their care had never been to a birthday party," she said. Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said Mockingbird helped to build a "wider extended family network" and hoped it could be further expanded.
Life Without Barriers Mockingbird Department Of Child Protection Lucy Wade Foster Carers
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