As foster care is the temporary care of children, foster carers frequently say goodbye as children leave their home.
Some carers may welcome a new child soon after, while others choose to have a break before taking on the care of another child.
For all carers, there’s an element of loss and grief when a child leaves. Traditionally, carers have been supported through this with an ‘end of placement debrief’, or regular catch-ups with their MacKillop support worker. However, to date there hasn’t been a sector spotlight on the cumulative impact of saying goodbye on carers and their families. Until now.
With an understanding that this experience appeared universal for carers, MacKillop partnered with the University of Melbourne on a research project to better understand how to best support carers and their family when children leave their care.
Based on the lived experience of over 100 carers and their biological children, carers identified that additional focus and further development was needed to support the emotional and psychological impact of placements ending.
The research outcomes, which launched in May 2025, have influenced carer support practice nationally. To further support improved practice and system design, MacKillop widely shared findings with the sector. Feedback from the WA Department of Communities acknowledged MacKillop’s leadership and courage in addressing grief and loss in foster care. In NSW, the Department of Communities and Justice invited the researcher to host a webinar for the sector and carers, valuing it as leading research. Attended by 270 workers and carers, the webinar garnered great interest.
Informed by research findings, MacKillop also successfully secured funding from Perpetual Trustees (The Fred P Archer Charitable Trust) to develop a series of initiatives aimed at better supporting carers in their role, particularly those who had experienced significant grief when a child in their care left.
These initiatives, along with research report recommendations, include:
- The validation and normalisation of the carer loss and grief experience captured in a 5-part podcast series, Preparing our Hearts, which offers unique insights from carers and their biological children
- The podcast series also includes the voices of MacKillop foster care workers who share strategies and approaches that have worked well in supporting carers
- MacKillop caseworkers have been trained in the research findings
- Loss and grief workshops for carers
- Redeveloping trauma-informed care training, with a renewed focus on carer wellbeing.