Times
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
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Traumatised kids unable to access mental health support:
Foster care in crisis in regional areas. Findings from the recently-released ‘Strong Carers, Stronger Children – Victorian Carers Strategy’s Findings of the Home-based carer census – Final Report’ to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing have confirmed the high need for mental health supports. Of the fos ter and ki nship
carers surveyed, 10 per cent were from Gippsland. Of the children in out of home care in Victoria, the report showed 69 per cent had a history of trauma, 56 per cent had behavioural issues, 44 per cent had attachment issues and 40 per cent had identified mental health difficulties. The report also found that close to a third of carers had ended a placement
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Golfers are excited to be back on the Maffra golf course. Getting out in the fresh air on Saturday are (from left) Frank Robbins, Luke Drummond, Graham Robbins and Rocky Tona. Story page 29. Photo: Josh Farrell
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because of behavioural and mental health issues or for anger and violent behaviours of the child. The census showed that the majority of carers use their own money to pay for medical, dental and therapy costs, dipping into their savings or even borrowing from family and friends. Without the right financial and mental health supports, these statistics will mean foster carers will continue to leave the Victorian out of home care system more quickly than new carers sign on. A Better Life for Foster Kids founder Heather Baird said there was not enough being done to address the urgent mental health care needs of children when they were entering out of home care. “The current pandemic has made access to appropriate support even worse,” she said. “When most kids are placed into care, they have access to assessments such as optical and general medical, but a mental health plan is not a standard part of the assessment procedure for all children. “By the time they are teenagers, some of them are self-harming and attempting suicide. “Constant trips to the emergency
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A Better Life For Foster Kids founder Heather Baird says many children in out of home care are being denied access to mental health care. department are a common experience for carers. “On a daily basis, we hear from carers that they are fighting to get their child the mental health care they need, and are getting little support from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing with funding or even permisContinued page 2
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“Children’s lives are being lost to suicide, kids are running from home, going missing, living on the streets and becoming statistics because there is no standard mental health assessment or early intervention when they enter out of home care. Our society is utterly failing them.” — A Better Life For Foster Kids founder Heather Baird
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A SALE-based charity is calling for greater scrutiny of mental health supports in the out of home care system in Victoria, saying carers are finding it almost impossible to access mental health services for traumatised children. A Better Life For Foster Kids has noticed a significant lack of specialised trauma and mental health support for Victorian children in care, particularly
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