Foster Care is the temporary care of children by individuals or families, who have been trained, assessed, and accredited to provide foster care.
Foster carers provide a temporary and safe home for children and young people who cannot live with their biological parents. This could be due to a variety of reasons, including neglect, abuse, or other circumstances that make it unsafe for the child to remain at home.
Foster care is designed to ensure that these children receive the love, care, and support they need while a more permanent solution is sought, which could be returning to their biological parents, kinship care, permanent care, or other arrangements.
Foster carers are supported by an organisation, like MacKillop Family Services, who provide training, an after-hours service, respite support and practical support where required.
Foster carers provide stability and safety for children and young people. While temporary, the impact foster carers can have on the lives of young people is immeasurable.
Having Muslim carers for Muslim children and young people in foster care is essential for children to feel safe and connected in their culture and religion. Children and young people thrive when they are embedded in their culture.
MacKillop is looking to the local Muslim community to find foster care families to provide this culturally supported care. This will allow children and young people to feel like they ‘fit in’ with carers that have that cultural understanding. To receive religious guidance, hold a sense of identity to their community and ensure they have a halal diet. Children and young people will be involved in religious celebrations such as Jumah prayer, Ramadan, and Eid.
Giving children and young people the opportunities to be involved within the Muslim community will allow them to make connections with other children and promotes their overall wellbeing and development. By connecting and strengthening relationships with the Muslim community, MacKillop aims to create a nurturing environment for Muslim children that respects their unique cultural and religious identities.