Over 400 children in need of protection are housed in emergency accommodation across NSW amid a dire shortage of foster workers.
Vulnerable children staying in hotels and motels, a shortage of caseworkers and an increasing demand on residential care have led to an urgent plea for more foster carers in NSW.
Hotels, motels and short-term rentals are supposed to be used as a last resort and are staffed by unaccredited agency staff through labour-hire agencies. As of June 30, there were 26 children in hotels and motels, 37 in serviced apartments and 55 in short-term rentals including caravan parks. NSW Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington has used Foster Carer and Kinship Week to make an urgent plea for more parents to sign up as foster carers.
“The rising cost of living means that we have fewer families being able to put their hands up to support vulnerable children and open their hearts and their homes and give them a place to live.” “Too many children move from placement to placement in foster care and never find the stability they so badly need,” Griffiths said.“Recruiting more foster carers is not the long-term solution for vulnerable children – foster care is a temporary ‘fix’ and should not be a ‘lifestyle choice’ for any child. Foster care is by its nature impermanent.”
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