1. NSW Foster Carers’ Perceptions of their Support Needs – A Snapshot The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (Sylvia Ghaly) in partnership with The Australian Foster Care Association (Bev Orr)

2. Background The Wood report and the recommendations to transfer services to the non-government sector The lack of an independent unified voice for carers in NSW The speculations about what carers want and need The role of ACWA within the sector in NSW The role of AFCA at a national level

3. Research Process Questionnaires developed based on previous questionnaires Both paper based and electronic (survey monkey) collected Survey sent to service providers and forwarded to carers No identifying information was recorded, not about the carer nor about the service provider

4. Limitations A total of 775 surveys (including 75 on-line surveys) % hard to determine Hard to follow-up on issues due to the lack of identifying data Surveys are being received until the end of August

5. The Sample

6. The Sample (Cont.)

7. Key Findings - Support

8. Key Findings – Support

9. Key Findings - Training

10. Carers Concerns In general carers feel undervalued Concern about data collection that does not lead to action Concerns about health issues, Medicare Card Lack of prompt responses from case workers Financial reimbursement for expenses

11. Further Work For AFCA: Comparing the data with national data Comparing the data with similar data from previous years For ACWA: Preparing a written report Include findings in ACWA’s Advocacy Agenda

12. Acknowledgements The carers who completed the surveys ACWA Members AbSec Community Services (NSW DHS) Connecting Carers Foster Parents Support Network

13. Contact For Carers and National Data Bev Orr, President The Australian Foster Care Association 041-748-5737, afca@bigpond.com For NSW Related Data and Issues Sylvia Ghaly, Director of Policy and Membership The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (02) 9281 8822, sylvia@acwa.asn.au

14. Questions