Foster carer who quit after three weeks says she was 'set up to fail'

Australia Broadcast Center

15-05-2025

With nothing but a black bin bag in tow, Oliver* arrived at Elaine's* on the eve of his seventh birthday.
Watching his small hands pull out clothes that no longer fit him, Elaine was awash with sadness, and felt it even more upon herself to make the child's big day special.
Queensland's child protection department had asked Elaine to become the boy's foster carer at the last minute.
"Basically, I was called and he was coming the next day," she said.
Elaine said she was wholly unprepared and untrained to take on a young child with high needs and complex behaviours.
They spent a hellish first night as the department had not given Elaine the medication that Oliver needed to settle.
"That's the second I'm set up to fail," she said.
Elaine first met the boy when working as an early childhood teacher.
Every so often, he would stay the weekend — a no-strings-attached arrangement struck between Elaine and Oliver's mum, and endorsed by the department to give his family respite.
When the department in July 2023 asked Elaine to become Oliver's carer, she said yes.
A query Elaine sent to the department days after Oliver had started living with her shows that among other things, the carer did not have the history of the child, paperwork to show the child was with her, his Medicare card or a list of "support agencies we can approach for help".
"I was told when the child came to me there's an emergency $1,000 payment — and that will pay for all this set-up and everything that you need," Elaine said.
"And when I raised that at the meeting, they said, 'Oh, no, we're not aware of that'.
Emails sent over the following weeks show Elaine begging the department for support to manage Oliver's school suspensions and bouts of aggression.
With none forthcoming, she told the department the situation was beyond her skill set and quit after three weeks.
Oliver hoped for a "mum, dad and a dog" in his new home — but when Elaine made an appointment and dropped him off at the government offices, she said they had nowhere for him.
"You have to have processes, you have to have strategies, you have to know what is happening next.
"It just seemed like everything was: 'let's just hope for the best'."
Elaine had a premonition his next carers might be caught unawares also, so she refilled his medication, ditched the bin bag for a suitcase and penned instructions:
"He is scared of dark so his crystal lamp in bag is invaluable.
"He has a weighted blanket and will need lights on to feel secure.
"Please cherish him."
But Oliver didn't go into a home — instead, he ended up with other children in a residential care facility, Thrive House, where one of the staff later allegedly assaulted him.
When Oliver's biological grandmother found out and confronted the department, it replied:
"There is currently an internal investigation happening so I am not able to release too much information, but I can say that [the staff member] is not being put on shifts at Oliver's house."
His grandmother said she was never given the outcome of that investigation.
And much later, when Oliver was already living with her, she discovered entries in his school diary which revealed staff at Thrive House had sent him to school with either broken shoes, without a shirt, "rotten" food, or no food.
"We notice he's wearing his broken shoes again and tells us the new ones are on the roof. If you can't get it down would you please buy him a new pair," a note reads.
"Not supplied anything to eat or drink for 1st break. Staff supplied sandwiches drinks before Oliver went to play at 11:10am. He did not have a hat — used a teacher's hat. Overshirt and tracksuit pants on a hot day not suitable," another one says.
"These places receive a heap of money from government funding, but they're not looking after the kids properly," his grandmother said.
Thrive House said it would "not be providing any comment".
The department said legislation prevented them from disclosing information about individual cases.
It said care arrangements were monitored to ensure standards were met and allegations were assessed.
"The outcome of an assessment in response to an allegation is provided to the child or young person where appropriate with respect to their age and development," it said.
The department said carers could be "provisionally approved to care for specific children" for up to 90 days, during which time full assessment and training were conducted.
It said carers could be "at various stages" of assessment and training, and that kinship and some foster carers "undertake training differently", with support tailored to their needs.
It said once a care arrangement was made, a fortnightly allowance would be provided to the carer, and a child safety officer would facilitate access to additional payments and reimbursements as soon as possible.
The department said while all efforts were made to ensure a child's transition to a new household is well planned, "emergent circumstances" sometimes meant children arrived with few personal belongings.
"We work with our agency partners, parents and carer to make sure the dignity of children and young people is protected," it said.
Earlier this week, the ABC revealed children in the $2-billion taxpayer-funded residential care system are believed to be sexually exploited.
Residential care is a model in which governments outsource the care of vulnerable children to agencies using rostered staff.
In the absence of family-home-like environments provided by foster carers, advocates fear more and more children will face living in group homes notorious for violence, abuse and property destruction.
Data from the department shows the Queensland government last financial year put $959 million into residential care, more than twice the $383 million it spent on foster care.
Last year, Queensland also had the highest number of children in residential care — about 1,000 more than the most populous state, New South Wales.
The NSW child protection department did not provide data for last financial year, but in 2022-23 it spent $300 million more on foster care than it did on residential care — $833 million and $533 million respectively.
Victoria's residential care funding last financial year was $553 million and foster and kinship care expenditure $560 million, according to the Productivity Commission's report.
Victoria has the lowest base level 1 carer allowance — a payment to contribute to the daily costs of raising a child.
Data from Foster Care Association of Victoria shows that for a child up to age seven, carers are given the fortnightly base rate of $446, whereas for a child aged between eight and 10, they receive $462.
The association's CEO Samantha Hauge said the state also boasted the worst carer recruitment and retention rate, which could result in kids ending up in group homes or motel rooms.
"And quiet, as the government would prefer, really, that people don't know.
"When there's a lack of carers, unfortunately, the option is that these vulnerable children are placed in residential care, and that in itself is an incredibly sad situation and absolutely inadequate response from the government."
Last June, the organisation's survey of 750 carers showed inadequate allowance was the main reason for quitting.
"We've asked at the state level, we've asked at the federal level … their response is that the allowance won't be increased at the current time," Ms Hauge said.
Other reasons cited for leaving included feeling undervalued and facing challenges in addressing children's needs.
"We need to see improved administrative processes and make things easier for carers to navigate the complex out-of-home care system and stop encountering all of the bureaucratic red tape," Ms Hauge said.
She said potential solutions would include a tax relief and superannuation benefit for carers, clear carer recruitment strategy, respite for foster carers and shorter health services wait times for kids in care.
The Victorian child protection department said it had the highest rates of kinship care in the country, accounting for around 80 per cent of placements.
"The Victorian government prioritises early intervention and support to place fewer children in residential care and more in kinship or foster care, as well as return kids to their families more quickly than any other state," it said.
The NSW government has been undergoing a reform after announcing in March last year that it would ban alternative care arrangements provided by unaccredited providers.
Such placements, often in hotels and motels, cost upwards of $2 million per child a year, the government said.
The NSW government said since taking office in 2023, it had recruited 235 emergency foster carers, enabling more than 1,000 children to be placed in homes instead of hotels.
It said the number of children placed in high-cost emergency accommodation had decreased by 35 per cent since November 2023.
Renee Leigh Carter from NSW carer peak body Adopt Change said while she had observed more interest in caring, it was too early to say whether they would stay long-term.
"It really is still that landscape in Australia where unless there's a shift in making sure that it is a more viable role, even where there's interest it won't necessarily be able to translate," she said.
Ms Carter said the national foster carer peak body had urged the Federal Treasury to ensure "the funding follows the child".
"If you compare the approximately $15,000 that a carer may receive to support a child in the home for a year, and we've seen figures come out over recent months that it could cost around a million dollars for a child to live in a motel with shift workers for a year," she said.
"There needs to be a review of how carers are supported financially and towards their wellbeing. And the amounts that go towards children in care and healing need to be reviewed, and that money needs to follow the trail.
"We really think that that's something that each of our states needs, and that there needs to be federal leadership on that as well.
The Queensland government said it had funded the state's peak body for carers to pilot a program that engages with carers to understand their needs, and supports past carers to take up the role again.
It said $413.5 million was provided this financial year to support carer families, including $233 million for carer allowances, and $180.3 million for services like recruitment, training and support.
The department said there would be a $27 million investment for a professional foster care pilot program for kids with complex needs.
*Because Oliver is still in the child protection system, we have had to change his name and the name of his former carer.