July 2005

Booklet a guide for foster carers

A new booklet for foster carers brings together common themes and threads associated with a child in care.

Working with Children in Care: Manual for Carers aims to inform foster carers, foster care workers, child protection workers, counsellors and psychologists working with children in out-of-home care and school and childcare centre staff.

It addresses communication, attachment disorders, challenging behaviours and what they may mean and how to deal with them.

Working with Children in Care is a Connections—Challenging Behaviours Consultancy (CBC) production and partly funded by the Department of Human Services’ Southern Metropolitan Region.

CBC provides support to out-of-home carers managing challenging behaviours of children and young people in their care.

Connections is a community-based not-for-profit Uniting Care organisation working with vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and families to give them a chance now and in the future.

Working with Children in Care was developed to give carers and other professionals keys to understanding and promoting the development of children and young people in their care.

It represents the accumulated training and practice wisdom of CBC psychologists whose mission is to promote stability for children and young people in out-of-home care.

Much of the understanding and knowledge reflected in Working with Children in Care comes from the carers with whom CBC workers have collaborated.

It is practical, user-friendly and ideal for succinct reading or referencing.

Topics include:

• Understanding and responding to the needs of children in care;

• Attachment, encouraging positive behaviours, coping with ‘tantrums’ and power struggles;

• Building self-esteem and carer self-care.

Working with Children in Care: Manual for Carers costs $40 a copy and is available in hardcopy or as a CD Rom.

• For more information contact Dr Fredda Gregg at Connections, 185 Mt Dandenong Road, Croydon 3136, telephone 9724 2222 visit www.connections.org.au or email enquiries@connections.org.au.