What is Caregiving?
- Potential Caregivers
- Existing Caregivers

Foster Care NZ Incorporated:

South Auckland Caregivers Association Inc.

Dingwall Trust

NZ Family and Foster Care Federation

Foster Care Networker

Foster Care Associations

What is Caregiving?

"Caregiving aims to provide an appropriate family-like setting in which to care for children and young people who, for various reasons, cannot live with their own families/whanau."

Existing Caregivers

A Tribute to Foster Parents
by: Lawrence P. Adams
I have written a number of articles where I have been extremely critical of the foster care system. I feel it is badly broken and in need of drastic reform. There is one area, however, that I have not been critical of... the foster parents.
Permission has been obtained from the copyright owner, to be able to list this resource on this website.

Caseworker / Social Workers Tips
Permission has been obtained from the copyright owner, to be able to list this resource on this website.

Caregivers Handbook - Allegations
Child, Youth and Family
Permission has been obtained from the copyright owner, to be able to list this resource on this website.

Issues Facing Children in Care and their Families
Recently asked a question about issues that face children in care and their families, I thought about what I would expect if this were one of my grandchildren, or a niece or nephew. I would certainly expect them to be well cared for, and that the care would be done safely. Knowing what I do about the care agencies, what they should be expecting of themselves and what families expect of them, these are my thoughts. These are not in any order of priority; they are just there.
Permission has been obtained from the copyright owner, to be able to list this resource on this website.

Foster Parent Responsibilities
Role:
As a foster parent you have many responsibilities to a number of individuals: the child placed in your home, the agency, the child's biological family, the team and your own family. Your goal as a foster parent is to provide skilled care, discipline and nurturing for any child placed in your home, while serious problems are addressed through treatment interventions. You must operate as a parent, a behaviour management specialist, a mentor, a guide, a protector, a team member, an advocate, a teacher, a mentor of families, and as a caregiver. This is a big role. We have broken your tasks down to the following...

Allegations of Abuse Prevention & Survival
Preventing allegations of maltreatment or neglect in foster care provider, kinship and adoptive homes?
By Jodee Kulp and Judy Howell
Permission has been obtained from the copyright owner, to be able to list this resource on this website.

Discipline / Punishment
Do’s and Don’ts for Kids in Care

As Caregivers for other people’s children, it is very important to keep our-selves, and our families’ safe at all times, from allegations, and/or abuse from the children in our care.

Do’s:

Clearly tell the child/young person, what behaviours you do not like, or those behaviours that you find inappropriate. Explain ‘why’ the behaviour is inappropriate. Make the house rules very clear.

Praise the child/young person for their good actions and behaviours. Always try to look for the positives.

Listen to the child’s/young person’s explanation of the behaviour done.

Give clear directions or place limits on the behaviour/s.

Only remove privileges for a short time. Always let your agency know why and what is happening. (i.e.: time out, or extra duties given)

Give reasonable choices and consequences, which should always be negotiated with the child/young person.

Only remove the child/young person from a group for a short time. Do not publicly ‘shame’ a child/young person.

Do not ground the child/young person for an excessive amount of time. Especially do not threaten to stop or to limit contact with the child’s/young person’s natural family or others that may be important to the child/young person.

Do not use a level of force greater than is necessary to prevent harm being done to yourself, should you need to restrain a child/young person.

Decide what the disciplinary measures will be soon after the offence has been discovered.

Let the consequences for the behaviour fit the offence.

Don'ts

Hit or strike the child/young person directly or with a physical object.

Shake or shove the child/young person, or use any other form of aggressive behaviour.

Don’t condone any of the above being done by any one else.

Require a child/young person to remain silent or to stand in one place for a long time.

Use cold showers, or wash out the child/young person’s mouth with soap or mustard, or to even threaten the above.

Use harsh, humiliating, belittling or degrading responses of any form, including verbal, emotional and physical.

Confine a child/young person to bed for extended periods.

Use extensive withholding of emotional responses or stimulation.

Place a child/young person in a locked room.

Require a child/young person to take an uncomfortable position, such as squatting, bending or standing against a wall, or force the child/young person to repeat a physical movement.

Use excessive physical restraint.

Make a child/young person stay outside for prolonged periods of time.

Make a child/young person do excessive, strenuous, harsh work or exercise as a punishment, nor do not let them undertake an unfair share of the household tasks.

Deprive a child/young person of what they are entitled to, or what is necessary for that child/young person for their proper development, and care. Some of these items may include family visits and contact, food, shelter, clothing or bedding.

Submissions

For this section I would like for people to submit their own ideas on 'What Care-giving is about'. This way I feel that any person interested in Caregiving would be able to get a very real idea about what could be involved, before processing further. These submissions could be about any part of Caregiving – the good, the bad, or the humorous.

For submissions please e-mail Allysa.

The biggest reward is seeing them pick up the pieces, sort themselves out and begin to enjoy life again
By a foster parent

‘You’ve got to want the child to go home and to be prepared to work with their parents’
By a foster parent

Parents see themselves as ‘failures’ and foster parents as ‘successes’… we need to emphasise that we are merely just filling a gap until things get better
Kate

Children can be very difficult, but all we can show is love.
Sandra

I do ‘Fostering’ quite simply because, I know from personal experience that the cycle of abuse can be broken. It’s hard work – but it can be broken!!!!
Allysa

A Caregiver is a person who assists when it feels like the world is against you. For a parent a caregiver is a friend who takes care of the kids while you tend to yourself or rectify what needs rectifying. It is important that parents trust the caregiver and use this 'special time' to heal.

For the child a caregiver should be a gentle, kind person who is helping Mommy or Daddy or both to sort out what they need to, by looking after us for awhile.

Agatha

Many people enter into foster care thinking that they are rescuing a poor child from an abusive parent. They believe the child will be grateful and relieved to be out of the situation. This is rarely the case. Abuse is all they know, the abusive parent is their only parent, and what is a bad situation is that child’s “normal”. Be prepared for the child to be anything but happy about being in your home. In other words, examine your expectations. What are you expecting? Not only from the child, but also from his/her parents, Child, Youth and Family, and the experience itself? High expectations can lead to a fall!
Carrie