More than 85 per cent of children and young people in care in South Australia, live in family-based care. The majority of these children and young people live with family in a kinship arrangement.
In SA, the recruitment and ongoing support of foster carers is undertaken by non-government organisations such as Key Assets, while kinship carers are predominantly supported by the Department for Child Protection along with three Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.
In this segment, we hear from Michael Ainsworth, State Director for Key Assets, and foster carer Julie Krawczynski, about the impact foster carers make in our state and how to become a carer.
The department is committed to supporting non-government providers to continue to grow the number of foster carers available to provide safe, stable and nurturing environments for vulnerable children and young people.
As at 30 June 2022, there were 1404 foster carer households and 1774 kinship carer households in SA.
Foster and Kinship Carer Week, 11-17 September, provides an important opportunity to thank all carers for the incredibly crucial role they play in keeping children and young people safe and giving them a loving home in which they can grow and thrive.