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The Hon. AMANDA FAZIO: My question without notice is to addressed the Minister for Community Services. What action is the Government taking to recruit foster carers?
The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT: All honourable members would recognise the very important role that foster carers play and how much foster carers give of themselves in order to ensure that children and young people who cannot live with their families have the benefit of a stable and loving family life for a period of time. Foster carers are a crucial part of our community. They provide love, care and support for thousands of children and young people in New South Wales. Governments across Australia rely on foster carers to meet the many complex needs of vulnerable children and young people who cannot live with their families. The support they provide is vital if we are to enable these children to get a second start in life and ultimately achieve their full potential.
There are currently about 3,000 children in foster care in New South Wales, and the Department of Community Services [DOCS] is constantly advertising for suitable foster carers. A wide range of formally approved, trained, and supported carers are needed to match the wide range of children needing care. Unfortunately, we have most difficulty finding homes for older children between the ages of 8 and 14 years and for sibling groups and special needs children. I can advise the House that the department has recently advertised for carers on the North Shore in the Manly, Mosman and Hornsby areas. We need as many carers as possible to look after children who need short, medium, or long-term placements.
In the region that stretches from North Sydney to Wyong, about 12 children need placements in any given week. Currently more than 300 children and young people are in foster care or kinship placements in that region. In addition, the department advertised last week for foster carers in the Bathurst area. In that area at least two children in any week need either short-term or long-term placements. This could be from just 24 hours to several months for short-term placements. There are currently 76 children and young people in care or kinship placements in the Bathurst region. The Department of Community Services has also been seeking carers for four children in one of the most challenging groups of children, that is, those with special needs.
It is not easy to find the right carers for these children, and the department has a Special Needs Placement Unit, which works hard to find placements. The Department of Community Services is one of four agencies in New South Wales that organises placements for special needs children, along with Anglicare, Barnardos and Centacare. At present foster carers are the main providers of care in the out-of-home care system in New South Wales. The Government strongly supports and recognises the pivotal and important role they have in out-of-home care. We also recognise the need to strengthen the capacity of the out-of-home care system and also to increase the range of options available, particularly for children who have high needs and challenging behaviour.
Major funding increases are being made available over the next five years to improve the quality of out-of-home care and provide better outcomes for children and young people and their carers. We are improving case worker ratios to strengthen the support and supervision available to foster carers and children and young people in care. Incremental funding increases will be targeted to boost carer recruitment and retention. The best way to maintain and increase the number of our foster carers is to support them well. Improved case worker ratios and other measures are part of the Government's strategy of improving foster care services across New South Wales and delivering better outcomes for children and young people in care.