Payments for foster carers who adopt

Adoptive mum Jane Gibbs said: “When a foster parent adopts, their responsibilities are the same, it continues to be a 24-hour-a day job. They need the financial support”. 

Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward  announced on Wednesday that adoptive parents will receive the same regular payments as foster carers, which could be up to $40,000 a year.

The initiative is part of broader reforms to increase the number of adoptions in the state. 

More than 46,000 children are in out-of-home care nationwide, but just 70 foster kids were adopted last year, and only 2 outside NSW. 

While foster care is a temporary arrangement, adoption provides permanency for children removed from their birth families due to abuse or neglect. 

Deb Tozer, CEO of not-for-profit foster care agency CareSouth, said:  “Our key aim for children in out-of-home care is always to achieve a stable long-term home.  In circumstances where restoration to the birth family cannot be achieved adoption can provide a safe, stable and nurturing environment for vulnerable children and young people.”

Danielle Dunn, 34, who fostered over 30 children in Griffith before giving birth to her own twins last year, says more adoption needs to be encouraged in Australia.

“In foster care, children know they can be moved at any time, and this plays on their mind,” she said

But Ms Dunn has mixed views on paying adoptive parents. 

“Once you adopt, a child should be your responsibility,” she said, concerned that money may encourage some people to look after children for the wrong reasons. 

Though she says there needs to more be support for adoptive families, as many foster children have high needs. 

Ms Gibbs says she supports payments for adoptive parents, saying it will remove a barrier to adopt and help provide more kids with a sense of belonging.