Newfound Homes - The 3 Top Charities in Australia Tackling Adoption and Foster Care
‘There’s no place like home’ - a simple phrase with much deeper significance for adopted or fostered children. We’ve taken a closer look at Aussie adoption and foster care - and three of Australia’s top charities doing the very best work for this wonderfully worthy cause.
good.film
3 years ago
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Just here for a quick skim? Let us summarise! Adoption and foster care is a complex issue, so these charities tackle it from three distinct angles. OzChild is a service charity that focuses its efforts on vital rescue care. Adopt Change does superb research, and puts it into action through advocacy. And Berry Street focuses on specialist education services for young people in the foster care system. Donate to the adoption and fostering cause at good.film, and support all three amazing charities in just one click! No, we don’t take a cut (but a tip does help us keep the lights on here at Goods HQ). Your good deed is also tax-deductible!
Home. As a child, it’s the feeling created by those around you: the feeling of safety, the feeling of support, and the feeling of belonging. When you’re young, home is everything - but when that ‘everything’ is jeopardised, sometimes ‘home’ needs to be found again.
Enter: adoption and fostering services. They don’t simply find new homes for vulnerable youth; adoption and foster care provides hope for kids in need of support, comfort and love, for a variety of reasons.
So - what’s the difference between Adoption and Foster Care?
Where adoption is a permanent legal arrangement (in other words, the child is legally recognized as if they were born into that family), foster care offers non-permanent care options - for children who are unable to live with their birth families. This means that children in foster care may have contact with their birth family while they are living with a foster carer and, according to the SA Government's foster care site, “Every attempt is made to strengthen families so that children can return home safely.”
Is Adoption and Foster Care a big issue in Australia?
We only have to think of the 40,000+ Aussie kids living away from their birth parents to realise the immediate answer is ‘yes’. Sadly, the overwhelming majority of this number stems from reasons of abuse and neglect. But if you’re thinking there’s a range of other factors that could cause a child to be displaced from their family, you’d be spot on. Domestic violence, parental drug addiction, and other traumas all lead to a home environment that’s simply unsuitable for children to feel safe, to learn, and to grow (oh, and the best bit of being a kid - feeling happy!).
“Children and young people need fostering for all kinds of reasons.
Often, it’s because of abuse or neglect. Sometimes, it’s for multiple reasons such as family domestic violence, addictions, or mental ill-health…
…all of which impact a family’s capacity to care for their child safely.”
Key Assets
One of the leading non-government children's services providers in Australia
Naturally, the way children learn about the world from their earliest experiences is critical in the development of their personalities and their psyches. So when a child’s home environment is like the ones mentioned above, adoption and foster care services can be priceless for that child’s future - sourcing safe, healthy family surroundings in what’s referred to as ‘out-of-home-care’.
46,212 children and young people in the out-of-home care system in Australia
Child Protection Report 2020/21
While we mentioned the aim of foster care is to be temporary, it’s important to know that if it’s unsafe for a fostered child to return to their biological family, adoption can then be the best course of action - meaning the child moves from out-of-home-care to a permanent arrangement in a safe, new, adoptive home. But - and it’s a big ‘but’ - many don’t get this opportunity, with some kids moving up to 20 times, and missing out on that sense of permanence and family. According to Adopt Change, “these children experience a range of negative outcomes during childhood and in later life, including difficulties with education and relationships, interactions with the justice system, poor health, early pregnancy and homelessness.”
If a child moves 20 times before their 18th birthday, then on average they’re having to create a new “home” at least every year of their childhood.
When you see it from that perspective, it suddenly crystallizes that Aussie adoption & fostering services deserve all the support they can possibly get.
Thankfully, there are awesome charities doing the hard yards when it comes to adoption and fostering. But which ones are nailing it? We totally get that it’s not easy finding a charity you trust to make sure your money is actually doing good. Luckily, we’re gonna help you clear this hurdle - we’ve found the three top charities tackling adoption and fostering already!
Yep, Goods has done the homework for you. How? We vetted and verified our top charities through a strict obstacle course of research and review - so you can rest easy about where your donations are going. And in a genius move (if we do say so ourselves), 100% of your donation gets evenly shared between the three charities – so you won’t face a Sophie’s Choice scenario where you have to pick one and discard the rest. Think of it like an investment portfolio for giving! So without further ado, here are the three adoption and fostering charities that our research puts at the very top of the philanthro-podium.
OzChild
One of Australia’s leading child welfare organisations, OzChild helps at-risk children out of situations that can include family violence, neglect, addiction or mistreatment, and into homes of safety and comfort. And they’re not new to the task: operating for an incredible 170 years, OzChild is one of the longest-serving Aussie charities focused on children.
“We work hard to provide a better future for those in our care, with the belief that every child and young person deserves the chance to shine.”
OzChild
With a dedicated team of over 700 staff and carers around Australia, OzChild are like an army of support for our youngest Aussies, providing services to over 10,000 children and families every year. In fact, they’re the largest provider of evidence-based programs in Australia - kudos, team! As they proudly state, OzChild “are dedicated to achieving real outcomes for the children, young people and families in our care.”
What Foster Care Services Do OzChild Provide?
Too many to name, but here goes! OzChild’s evidence-based programs cover a range of social, behavioural and psychological needs, so kids from diverse backgrounds and situations can get the foster support they need - all with the aim of reuniting them with their families. They include their “Oregon Treatment”, a highly specialised foster care program that supports children with complex behaviours. Then there’s Multisystemic Therapy, a home-based treatment striving to reduce the number of re-offending youth (and other types of anti-social behaviour, like drug abuse). And their “SafeCare'' model is for parents of children aged 0-5 at-risk of child neglect or physical abuse - it means SafeCare educators visit and work with families at their own home, helping to improve their parenting skills. That’s just a sample of the wide range of support services that OzChild are renowned for in the space.
“Our vision: All children and young people are safe, respected, nurtured and reach their full potential.”
OzChild
So, how to sum up their efforts? Thanks to their nearly-two-centuries of experience in the field, it’s darn clear that OzChild appreciates the complexity of finding safe and positive solutions for vulnerable children - and they’re tackling those challenges uber-effectively from all sides.
Adopt Change
Like OzChild, Adopt Change is an organisation laser-focused on sourcing safe, stable and nurturing family-based upbringings for Aussie kids. But importantly, a huge chunk of Adopt Change’s efforts involve working with government to create legislative changes - to make an even better future for children and families.
“We understand the impacts of impermanency and trauma. We work to support families through workshops & online resources; research; pre- and post-adoptive supports; trauma informed supports and community events.”
Adopt Change
To put it another way, Adopt Change provides a voice for vulnerable children - and for those (like foster parents) who care for them. They work towards legislative and policy reform at a State and Federal level, meeting with politicians, policymakers, advisors and government representatives to help improve the system. And on the research side, we hear you ask? Adopt Change have well & truly hit the books on that front! They work closely with the Institute of Open Adoption Studies and the Karyn Purvis Institute (the leading US-based center on post-adoption child care) to help decode the truly relevant issues surrounding adoption for young people entering foster care; covering topics like barriers to adoption, the importance of permanency, the impact of trauma and more.
Above all, Adopt Change appreciates just how tough the process of adoption can be in Australia (both practically and emotionally). As a result, they’ve created a range of resources and services to support families who are struggling with the adoption system. These include carer support phone hotlines; an Online Lounge Room for video conferencing (where carers and experts can chat and share experiences in a secure, supportive online environment); and “Empower Change”: Adopt Change’s program for young people preparing for independence. They even put together “first-night backpacks” for kids aged 3 and up, who sometimes go into care for the first time with no toys, toiletries or possessions of their own. Adopt Change’s “MyPacks” include comforts like a soft toy, hand-made blankets, pyjamas, underwear, toiletries, a colouring book and felt pens. It’s a small example of a heart-warming gesture that, to us, encapsulates Adopt Change’s mission: ensuring the wellbeing and positivity of adopted and fostered Aussie children.
Berry Street
In a common theme here, Berry Street - one of Oz’s largest independent family service organisations - provides programs to more than 35,000 kids and families each year. And much like OzChild, these guys have been around the block: they’ve been operating since 1877! The thing that sets Berry Street apart, though (aside from their delicious name) is their incredible commitment to education services. The merry gang at Berry Street get that education is just as important to a child’s development & happiness, as a safe and healthy home and family. So they’ve thrown themselves into education programs for out-of-home kids that make a real difference.
Aside from a ton of resources, fact sheets and training on their website, Berry Street runs a bunch of education services that all aim to re-engage young people in out-of-home care with their education. These include their CIRC program, connecting children in residential care with experienced Specialist Educators to help them overcome trauma, their Navigator program, supporting people aged 12 to 17 to re-engage with education and learning, and their Side by Side program, to improve school attendance, engagement and learning outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
We believe that children, young people and families should be safe, thriving and hopeful.
Berry Street
But wait, there’s more: the Berry Street School! Yep, Berry Street actually run 4 physical campuses that make up their specialist, independent school, supporting over 200 students from years 7 to 12. These are kids that come from a variety of backgrounds: some have experienced bullying in mainstream schools and some are in out-of-home care. It means they often have gaps in their learning. As Berry Street state on their website: “These students need individualised support to keep them on track and make sure they have the same opportunities as their peers. Without this support, young people are at risk of disengaging completely from school, which can lead to poorer life outcomes.” The school’s methodology is underpinned by the Berry Street Education Model, which provides specialized strategies for kids within the foster care system; promoting wellbeing in the school, and crucially, supporting teachers too: to meet the often complex, individual needs of each student.
All told, we love Berry Street’s vision: delivering education to vulnerable children to ensure they can create, grow and thrive.
“We listen. We relate. We collaborate to make an impact.
We will courageously change lives.”
Berry Street
So there we have it! Three stellar adoption and foster care charities, supporting the Aussie kids who need it most. There’s no way we could pick just one from this lineup - but here at Goods, we wouldn’t want to. We’re big on the power of three. That’s why we’ve created our Adoption & Fostering Cause, which supports all three of these worthy charities equally. And by tackling the issues around adoption & fostering from three different approaches - that’s services, research and advocacy - the three charities’ efforts get achieved more effectively, and with greater impact. That’s more good, going to more places, helping more Aussie kids - and your donation gets shared equally between all three. Yep, every cent. When you think about the 40,000+ youngsters who share this common thread - kids like little Saroo from ‘Lion’ below - we’d hope you’d agree that’s a darn noble way to make your donation dollar go further.
Not quite ready to donate? Check out our top Adoption & Foster Care films to go deeper into this important issue. And if you’re curious about charities tackling other causes you care about, our research doesn’t stop here! Stay connected to good.film for heaps more content aligned with social causes. And if social impact entertainment is your jam, we’d love you to join our community. Match movies and streaming series to causes you care about. Create impact lists and share them with friends to keep the conversation going. Help make change where you feel it matters most - and inspire others to do more good!
