Foster Care What is foster care? How does a child enter foster care? What sort of arrangements can be made about my care with Oranga Tamariki? How are foster parents chosen? How will Oranga Tamariki support me with my new foster parents? How do Oranga Tamariki choose foster parents for children and young people? What does arranging an Oranga Tamariki (OT) placement that gives you continuity mean? How would my identity be respected in a foster care placement? How should my foster family treat me? Can I still meet with my birth family if I go into foster care? Can I have a room of my own in foster care? Who pays for my clothes and shoes when I’m in foster care? Does my caregiver or I choose my clothing in foster care? Who is responsible for any medical or dental treatment when I’m in foster care? Who can make decisions about my medical or dental treatment when I’m in foster care? Can my caregivers in foster care smack or hit me? Can I travel overseas with my caregivers or on a school trip while in foster care? What responsibilities do I have at a foster home? Do I have to do washing up, lawn-mowing or other jobs around the house when I’m in foster care? What happens if I disagree with my foster family? What should I do if my caregivers, or someone in my foster care home, abuses or harasses me? Who can I call if something bad happens to you while you are in foster care?
Foster care involves children and young people being cared for by members of the public who are not their family members.
Ministry for Children – Oranga Tamariki (OT), the government child protection agency, usually arranges placements with foster families. Sometimes the arrangements are made by private agencies such as Barnardos, the Open Home Foundation, or an iwi social services agency.
Sometimes a child or young person’s family members make a private arrangement with a family friend to provide foster care. More often, a child is placed in foster care when:
A parent signs an agreement with OT, giving OT the power to place the child in foster care, either as a short-term or longer-term arrangement.
Foster care arrangements can be for temporary or extended care:
Although the child’s consent is not required for a temporary care agreement, Oranga Tamariki (OT) must ask for their views about being placed in foster care and must take these views into account. An extended care agreement cannot be made for a young person 12 years or older unless they consent to it.
Oranga Tamariki (OT) try to find foster parents who live not too far from where the child or young person’s parents and family members live. They also try to choose a family that can meet the child or young person’s needs. There aren’t always enough people who are both suitable and able to provide foster care to children and young people who need it, so sometimes it can take OT a while to find an option that will work.
When a child or young person meets their foster parents for the first time, their social worker should take them to the foster parents’ home and introduce them. The social worker should keep in touch with the child or young person in the early days of the placement to help you settle in and sort out any problems that arise. After you are settled in, you should receive regular visits from your social worker.
Children and young people’s welfare and interests are Oranga Tamariki (OT)’s most important consideration when choosing foster families for them, and they should take great care when making these choices.
They should:
Be placed in a situation where you can have regular contact with your parents and other family members.
It means OT must try to find a foster family in the city, neighbourhood or community where the child or young person has lived previously. This means they can continue to have contact with their parents, brothers or sisters, friends and other family members, where possible. They should also be allowed to have their own clothes, toys, personal possessions and pets with then wherever possible. If possible, they should continue going to the same school.
Children and young people should, wherever possible, be placed with a family of the same race, culture and religion as them. For example, if they are Māori, preference will be given to a placement with a family that have links with their whānau, hapu or iwi.
The child or young person’s personal identity includes the right to be called by their own name and to be treated as an individual, with their own personality and preferences. Cultural identity involves having their nationality and culture recognised, accepted and supported by their foster parents and members of their family and community.
A foster family should provide a child or young person with more than just a bed and regular meals. They should be accepted as a full member of the new family and not be treated differently from other children in the household. Oranga Tamariki’s Caregiver Kete says caregivers should give children and young people a home where they grow up as part of the family. Caregivers should send the important message to their foster children that they are loved and valued, and that they belong. through positive messages and good modelling. Caregivers should offer support, guidance and understanding.
While in foster care, a child or young person is still part of their birth family. They should be able to have direct contact with their parents on a regular basis, unless it is shown that this contact is not in the child or young person’s best interests. This means they should be able to visit or receive regular visits from their parents, or have contact with them by phone, email or text message at regular intervals, in most circumstances.
While in foster care, a child or young person must be provided with a separate bed. Over the age of one, foster children shouldn’t share a bedroom with their foster parents unless they need to, and this arrangement has been agreed with their social worker.
Oranga Tamariki prefer that children six years and older do not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex. Children and young people in foster care should get their own bedroom where possible, but living areas will be shared.
Oranga Tamariki meets the reasonable cost of children and young people’s clothes and shoes while they are in foster care. If they do not have enough clothing when they come into care, an emergency payment can be made to their foster parents to buy the clothing they need.
Every four weeks, foster parents will receive a clothing allowance for the children/young people they are caring for. This allowance should provide the children/young people with a reasonable number and range of clothes, and a travel bag. If a child/young person brought clothes with them into foster care, they can keep those.
Although the clothing allowance is paid to a child/young person’s foster parents, the child/young person has a right to be consulted about the items of clothing to be purchased. Their foster parents will probably prefer to buy a range of items rather than one or two expensive items. It is best for a child/young person to speak to their foster parents if they have any preferences. As they get older, a child/young person should be given a greater say in their choice of clothes and shoes.
If a child/young person has to start at a new school, a special payment can be made to their foster parents to meet the cost of the new school uniform.
A child/young person’s foster parents will be responsible for arranging any health care that they need and will make sure that they receive regular dental treatment. Oranga Tamariki will pay for their doctors’ and dentists’ visits.
If the young person is 16 or older, they can always accept or refuse any medical or dental treatment. Under that age, they can agree to or refuse medical treatment if they are old enough and mature enough to consider the risks and benefits of the treatment and make a balanced decision. Children/young people have the legal right to consent to an abortion at any age.
Most doctors will not provide major treatment to under 16-year-olds unless their parent or legal guardian agrees to it. If a child or young person is under a guardianship order, their social worker will be able to agree to major treatment on behalf of Oranga Tamariki. If a child or young person is under a custody order, their parent or legal guardian might have to agree to major treatment.
In most cases, the child or young person will make decisions about any major health or dental treatment after talking the issue through with their doctor, their caregivers, and their social worker.
No, a child or young person’s foster parents are not allowed to use physical punishment (such as smacking, kicking, hitting) or any other form of punishment which is cruel, abusive or humiliating (such as verbal abuse, insults, cold showers or baths, not allowing them to shower).
However, foster parents can set boundaries and expect the child/young person they are caring for to keep to the rules of the house, and they can punish them for breaking the rules. Some examples of legal punishments are sending a child/young person to their room, grounding them for a reasonable period, withholding treats, or taking away special privileges.
A child/young person will usually be able to travel on holiday with their caregivers or on a school trip, but if an overseas trip is planned, one of their birth parents or legal guardians will usually need to agree to it. Oranga Tamariki (OT) should arrange for this.
If the child/young person doesn’t already have a passport, they will need to get one to travel overseas. If they are under a sole guardianship order, the application must be signed by a senior officer of OT. If they are under a shared guardianship order or a custody order, their birth parent or guardian must sign the application. These will take time, so a child/young person should tell their social worker as soon as they plan to travel overseas.
A foster child/young person is part of their foster family (as well as their birth family), so they cannot do whatever they want. Like any other parents, foster parents can set rules and expect foster children to behave according to those rules. Most foster parents are dedicated people who look after children because they want to help children who cannot live with their parents and family.
It is important that a child/young person in foster care gives support and respect to their caregivers and does their fair share of chores around the house.
Being part of a family involves responsibilities as well as rights, and a child/young person in foster care has to do their fair share of jobs in the home and garden. They will be expected to make their own bed, keep their room tidy, help with the dishes, and generally help their caregivers with housework and outdoor tasks. They should not be expected to spend more time on chores than the caregivers’ own children who are a similar age.
Foster parents cannot make a child/young person in foster care work in the foster parents’ business, do heavy, dangerous or exhausting work, or do that prevents them from going to school.
Every family has occasional disagreements and differences in opinion, and things can usually be sorted out by discussion and negotiation, so if a child/young person in foster care is unhappy about any part of their care, they should talk to their foster caregivers first.
Where things have become really bad, or a child/young person can’t talk to their caregivers, their legal rights become important. When one or both of these things happen, the child/young person should talk to their social worker or counsellor. If they don’t have one, they can talk to their school counsellor or call Oranga Tamariki on 0508 326 459. They can also talk to someone at Youthline on 0800 376 633, or What’s Up on 0800 WHATSUP (0800 942 8787).
Abuse is anything that someone does to someone else that damages them physically, emotionally, mentally, or sexually. Harassment includes where someone makes sexual or embarrassing remarks to another person, watches and hangs around them, or stalks them.
If a child or young person is abused or harassed by someone in their foster care home, or by a relative or friend of their foster caregivers, they should immediately contact their social worker or, if they cannot make contact with their social worker, inform a member of their birth family, their school guidance counsellor, their lawyer, or the Police. It is not ok to be abused!
If something bad happens to a child or young person in foster care and no one seems willing to help them, they can contact the following people: