Just like her parents, and her parents’ parents, Pauline Oliver-Snell is a proud foster mum.
Key points:
- More than 46,000 kids are in out-of-home care across Australia, according to the latest data
- At the same time, there are just over 9,000 foster care homes available in Australia
- Foster Care Victoria says the number of active carers has declined since the start of the pandemic
Over the past 25 years, she has opened her western Victorian home to more than 100 kids, in addition to having four children of her own.
Caring is nothing new to the Oliver-Snell family.
Pauline’s parents took in one of Victoria’s first Vietnamese asylum-seeking refugees in the 1970s, while her grandparents sponsored a family from Austria the generation before.
But there is growing concern that the next generation of carers, after Ms Oliver-Snell retires, has gone missing.
“Some days I think I should retire, but there’s no-one out there,” Ms Oliver-Snell said.
Since 2017, the number of children in out-of-home care has increased to more than 46,200 — a jump of more than 7 per cent.
However, the number of active foster care households in Australia with placements is declining, with just 9,022 active homes in the latest reporting period, according to Commonwealth figures.
“We need young people to come in, pick up the flag and go with it,” Ms Oliver-Snell said.
Victorian system at ‘crisis point’
Ms Oliver-Snell’s home in Hamilton, three hours west of Melbourne, has always been an open, loving environment.
The only problem is there are not enough like it.
Sector leaders say the Victorian foster care system is at a crisis point, with the latest Foster Care Victoria data revealing notable drops in active and accredited foster carers since the pandemic, which was followed by the cost-of-living crisis.
At the same time, the number of people signing up to become new foster carers has dropped steeply.
“Sadly, there is increasing demand for foster care, and, simultaneously, we are seeing a decrease in the number of carers,” Michael Perusco, chief executive of community charity group Berry Street, said.
“We always need more people to put their hands up to be foster carers.”
On any given day there are about 1,600 children and young people in foster care placements in Victoria and about 470 children in residential care.
A professional paid model is being trialled in Melbourne, however it is yet to be expanded to regional areas.
Changing lives
Ms Oliver-Snell said the difference foster carers could make to a child’s life was huge.
“Every child who comes … goes with a bit of my heart with them,” she said.
“There’s a lot of trauma around, but you just chip away … let them feel the love and things change.
“You’ll get a random hug or see those sad eyes smile.”
Organisations that assist foster carers, such as Berry Street, are trying to demystify exactly who can become a foster carer.
Individuals need to be over 21 years old and able to offer a child their own room in a safe and nurturing home environment, according to Mr Perusco.
“You don’t need parenting experience, to give up your job, or to have a child living with you all the time,” he said.
Ms Oliver-Snell is caring for two foster children and has no plans to give up being a carer anytime soon.
“I don’t know anything different,” she said.
“In ordinary ways, love can change many things.”