Allan spent most of his childhood in state care. He moved into a residential care home at the age of eight, relocating several times before settling into a foster carer home as a young teenager.
Allan reflects on his first residential care home: “It’s quite scary walking into a place where you don’t know anyone. Everything was a whirl. It felt like nobody was on my side because I didn’t know anyone.
All I had was a big bag of clothes and some lego. It was such a big change when you’re used to your mum and your dad…an ordinary life that felt natural was replaced with a fabricated world.
After moving homes several times, Allan disengaged from school.
“I couldn’t focus on school when I was in residential care. I felt like I shouldn’t be worried about it, because it wouldn’t be long before I was moved and sent to another one. I didn’t have self esteem or confidence to partake in schools or exams because I had already missed out on so much.”
Everything changed for Allan when he moved into a home with foster carers.
“When I was in year 8 and 9, I was in a home-based care placement. It was with parent-like live-in carers who could show their commitment day to day, rather than shift to shift. It allowed me to get stability and excel at school,” Allan said.
“My foster carers were very welcoming, but also gave me space. Time and time again, despite my challenging behaviours, they made it very clear they weren’t going anywhere, and they wanted to help me and wanted the best for me.
Through consistent conversations like that, I began to buy into their culture, their guidance, their leadership and in many ways, their parenting,” Allan said.
His foster carers provided Allan with the love and stability to help him feel safe, build relationships, and excel at school.
My foster parents helped me achieve something I’d never achieved before: going to school for a whole term and not missing a single class. Because of them, I was able to attend and was actually enjoying school. In year 10, I received the most improved student award.
Allan’s passion for education saw him complete a Bachelor of Youth Work at University while living independently. His foster parents were instrumental in providing Allan with the skills to succeed.
“When I was 16, I was given an allowance. It taught me to have a bank account, how to budget and manage money. What was instrumental with this is that I was trusted. Around the same time, I was given house keys. It was a really big milestone. Treating me like an adult helped me to act like an adult,” Allan said.
His foster parents also helped him to understand himself more fully, his behaviours and his decisions with what Allan calls ‘counselling on the go’.
“I had a good connection with my foster mum, we learnt from each other. I would sit on her bed and talk to her about everything in my life. It helped me realise I had all the pieces…I just needed to talk it through.
“After about a year after living with them, I started to build more of a rapport with my foster dad. I found it difficult because I didn’t deal well with authority at that time. He would talk me through things I wasn’t naturally good at, he was comforting in that way. I didn’t often approach him, but he was there when I needed him,” Allan said.
Allan has now been living independently for three years and is working in disability. He is looking to move into the out of home care sector where he can bring his own unique perspective of what children need as they come into state care.
“My foster carers have helped me to become the person I am today. We're still family and have a life long bond,” Allan said. “They’re very proud of me, and I am so appreciative of the support they’ve given me. Foster carers don’t get in all the acknowledgement they should; they put it a lot of hard work into young people. I want to thank of all them, they are really making a difference.”