Discussion forums

There has always only been a few forums that move, albeit at a slow pace, at least people are posting.

Wish I could find an oboriginal to talk to.  I went and looked at Aboriginal providers of care for foster children and you can't even apply to be one unless of Aboriginal decent.

I did anyway of course.  I am more than willing to learn about any child's culture that I have in care.  I had a couple of little Aboriginal children in NZ, had Maori's, Indian's, Arabian girl.

Most interesting is when I have gang children all mixed together from different gangs, I'm sure their mums and dads would just spew.

And you do treat each culture differently, even gang cultures (colours - would never dress them in an opposing gang colour). 

Fostering children under five I am amazed at other carers who think if they're babies where they came from doesn't matter.  They really arn't taught here that it starts from birth.

I am thinking maybe I need the support of some local indigenous peoples and of course I have to go learn more about the culture, I found a site and started reading about their religeous beliefs - really interesting stuff but reading about people opposed to meeting them and getting to know their culture through them would be worlds apart.

Is there a hotline or something?

Looking for advice and support on the net is good, but there is nothing like IRL. So I would rather see any finanicial assitance directed towards up to date info, not the constant maintanence of forums.

Hey Happy - I truley believe those people and what they are doing should be shot by taking in little children and trying to turn them against their own heritage - but isn't it the same thing that mum got her kids taken off her for when she was accused of turning her own children against their father?

I wanted to ask you both for suggestions on cultural stuff... I was told to watch Rabbit Proof Fence, should cheer me up no end over Easter by the sounds of it.  Any other aboriginal movies or rentable documentaries that would help me come to grips with some indigenous culture?

I have spent the last few days doing Life Story Work - kids in long term care get this ring binder with "My Life Story" written on the front and it has sections inside like "where I have lived" and "what my birth was like" stuff we carers arn't told anyway. 

So I gutted it and did my own one that just covers two years I had one set of siblings  here in Oz.  Stuff they liked, things they did, what sort of kids they were while here. It's exhausting and of course I am crap with computers so lots of mistakes were made.  Printed out over 100 photos down at local KMart that I thought were particularly cute or fun.  Have gone through 4 ink cartidges and a ton of paper and I am starting to think I should be getting some funding just for bothering.<smile>

Read some govenement stuff today and some other tabloid type stuff about us foster parents just raking it in.  I bet some do, but wow they make no allowance at all that maybe there could be just a few that spend it on the actual children.  You would not belive the wear and tear on a house that has many pre-schoolers bouncing around in it at any one time either - or you two probably would. 

Oh and Lice (see I'm on a roll now) - they cost a fortune aye.  Days off work (hubby) to go to more serious appointments, petrol.  Clothes, toys, food, medical.  And no way will I deprive a child in my care of a Happy Meal once a week.<grin>

And I only do pre-schoolers, no idea how the ones with older kids get through it all.

To clarify... I get 395.00 a fornight for a child between 0 - 5 years old.  I know sounds like heaps but it just dispears so quickly.

Might go have a wee sit down now and a coffee.

It seems every one gets paid more than me.<smile>  All the NGO's pay their carers more, which I am guessing means they charge DoCS more for placements (don't know but wish there was someone to ask).  Then if your kids can't read of something they go to care +1 - more serious (autism and such) I think it's Care +2.

Even when I did have a little boy with autism I still got standard allowance and then when the mistake was discovered after he left no one back dated the monies although they did talk about it for awhile. 

Discussion I had with someone from LWB's was pathetic, going on about how they are a charity.  Charity or not one has to assume they pay themselves a salary and don't get up and act as caseworkers and place children for free.

You know I am talking about fostering everywhere except in the fostering forums.  Where did all the foster parents go?

But anyways we are volunteers and if we don't like the allowance we can stop fostering I guess.  And in NZ (I always go there to compare aye) we got 186.00 a fortnight for a child 0 - 5 and mananged just fine - well hubby has good job and if I want them nicely dressed then it comes out of our income.  Coming here I was amazed at such a big allowance but everything seems more expensive here so I guess that makes up for it.

I live in Darwin and have done for eight years, and since moving here have had real interactions with the local people (local people meaning the Larrakia People) to which i had never experienced before, having been born and raised in urban Sydney!

Just on the post (so sorry forgot your name) on the heading 'Indigenous Parents' and not wanting to post as felt it didn't apply to them .... i feel this is an attitude that we all must change and just goes to show we have such a long way to go yet! At my childrens' school there is an Indigenous/Naidoc Committee group made up of parents. I assumed that you could be on that committee only if you were Indigenous, but it wasn't the case. I was asked to join, as i help alot at the school with some of the mothers on this committee, and that i showed an interest in their culture. So here i am, the only white woman on the Indigenous Committee. I find that sad, and i think we should all take more of an interest in the culture of the native people of this land (like N.Z.) 

I'm really split by this one, on one hand i think any child regardless of race that needs a loving family should be allowed one, regardless of the to be caregivers race. But on the other hand i believe the indigineous culture has been totally down troddin and a child of indigineous race should be placed into an idigineous family to keep the culture strong.

Surely though if you provide all the 'ticks' for being a foster parent that if an indigineous child comes along you can't foster them because you haven't done a certain course or can't answer the relevant cultural questions? Or is that the case?

My partner and i have thought about adopting a child from my partners' native land Mozambique as we speak Portuguese, (or i think i can!!!) my partner speaks his native dialect and we are actively involved and are members of the African Australian association so we felt we could keep the culture alive for the child. But our obstacle is money! We are not Madonna or Brangelina!!!

It amazes me that at the end of the day there are children everywhere who need loving families and there are loving families everywhere that want to care for these children yet politics and red tape rule over all! 

Look at you go, I imagine that is facinating.  I've been reading up on the Abboriginal culture on websites.  This is partly how NZ did start having a real understanding of the Maori culture... the Kapa Haka groups in the schools were a lot of fun, the songs, dancing and culture were made so much fun all the little white kids wanted to do it.

But the question of abboriginals and which foster homes is very much, I believe, a matter of funding.  Certain abboriginal groups got large amounts of funding with the stipulation that they would only have "indigenous carers" recruited.  So they may find you more than suitable, they just arn't allowed.

DoCS still has the biggest caregiver base which in NSW is about 80% of carers and the rest foster through NGO's.  And if needed yes they [DoCS] will place abboriginal children with white carers.  Where I am there is a preference if you are not an Australian couple because (I can't even work out how to say this carefully) white middleclass Aussies tend to be rather rascist and don't do well having a real understanding of how important different cultures are. 

The average white foster parents do have a reasonable sounding arguement that if the kid is fed and looked after it shouldn't matter. 

But I would say you and I know very differently and that an awareness for another culture and heritage must not only be appreciated and acknowledged but celebrated and encouraged.

I think you'd be perfect for any kids, since you can identify with cultures outside of your own.

Now I am just going to bleat on..... being aware of cultures and having an appreciation for other peoples heritage also means you can understand that a childs family (yep even the boring white ones) have their own traditions and way of doing things.  You will be able to keep a child connected to their roots and be less likely to critique the way a child does things differently or understands differently from the children in your own family.