About the role

We are looking for positive, upbeat individuals who enjoy working with young people within their own communities. Do you want to be supported in the work that you do? Are you interested in a job where you can make a life-changing difference for a young person and their family? Does working from home interest you? Not only would you be part of an amazing and supportive team, but you would be helping to sculpt a successful path for a young person who needs a structured and therapeutic environment.

We seek individuals or couples to become specialised foster carers in our internationally proven Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) program. This program is achieving life-changing outcomes for young people, with graduates successfully maintaining improvement in their behaviours and engagement in education. Across OzChild’s six TFCO teams nationally, 64 children and young people have successfully graduated from the program and were reunified with family or been placed with caring long-term carers.

The program helps young people develop the needed skills to thrive at home, in school, and in the community.

Overview:

• Be part of a transformative short-term treatment foster care team
• Care for a young person aged 12-17 in your own home
• Become a full-time carer, where the young person will stay with you 24/7 for approximately 9 months OR become a respite carer one weekend a month
• On completion of the program, the young person will be reunited with their families or identified long-term foster carers
• Provide positive reinforcement for the young person in a home environment
• Receive comprehensive initial and ongoing training and guidance
• 24/7 on-call support, daily phone calls and weekly carer support meetings
• Approval process takes between 4-6 months and includes thorough screening processes and assessment interviews
• A generous tax-free reimbursement of $65,000 per annum pro rata (only paid whilst you are caring for a young person) reflecting the complexity of the young person you will be caring for, and all living and entertainment expenses for the young person come out of this reimbursement

We are looking for individuals/couples who:

• Come from all different religions and backgrounds, young, old, with their own kids, without kids, empty nesters, everyone from the LGBTQIA+ community etc.
• Have a suitable living space, including a spare bedroom
• Can provide a loving and caring home, routine and pass on basic life skills
• Are willing to follow an exact program of care, be closely supervised and guided by the OzChild care team, which includes a therapist, skills coach, teacher and a supervisor
• Can mentor and have a good sense of humour
• Have a solid support network
• Are not working in any other capacity (casual work, running your own business etc.) as you must be available full-time to care for a child in the program. If you are applying as a couple, at least one person must not be working. Combining fostering with studying part-time is generally OK. Working full-time or part-time is fine if you are interested in becoming a respite carer.
• Have no children under three years old living in the home

If you are passionate about improving young people’s lives, we want to hear from you.