Spiritus TRACC South provides care for children and young people up to age 18 who are unable to live with their own families for a period of time.

We care for children under the guardianship and/or custody of the Department of Child Safety and children and young people at risk of coming into care.

Spiritus TRACC South Specialist & Intensive Foster Care provides placements for children and young people with high to complex needs referred by the Department of Child Safety.

Spiritus TRACC South needs Carers for children & young people 5-18yrs.

Foster Carers
Carers will take a child into their own home for a period of a few days, months or years. They may also take a child into their own home for a holiday period. Sometimes the Carer’s job is difficult, because children and young people referred to the Specialist & Intensive Foster Care Program have been traumatised and will display challenging behaviour. All are grieving and feel confused by the changes in their life. These changes, coupled with developmental pathways and transitions, do make life for a child or young person very challenging … your journeying with them will be invaluable!

• Carers can be single, or married or unmarried couples. They may have children – preferably older than any child placed with them. 
• Carers can be young adults, middle-aged or older adults.
• Carers do need to be sensitive to the needs of the children, and have plenty of energy, time, commonsense, good humour, flexibility, ‘stickability’, and commitment.
• Carers need to be available to attend meetings, and Specialist Carers will receive intensive support, as well as a higher fostering allowance.

Becoming a Foster Carer
Most people wanting to become Foster Carers have a love of children and young people, and a commitment to working with the child or young person’s family.   To ensure that the children and young people are being placed in a safe and caring environment, potential Foster Carers undergo an assessment process which includes:

• Household Safety check
• Initial pre-service training
• Criminal History and Child Protection checks
• Traffic offences history check
• Medical and health questionnaires
• Referee checks
• Interviews with our Foster Care Support Worker

Once the screening, assessment, and training process have been completed satisfactorily, the Spiritus TRACC South team makes a recommendation to the Department of Child Safety about the potential Carers’ suitability for this vitally important role in our community.

What training and support are provided?

• All Foster Carers attend our ‘Quality Care Training’ and, following this introductory course, Spiritus TRACC South provides ongoing training and support
• Foster Carers meet at support group meetings and are in regular contact with their designated Spiritus TRACC South Foster Care Support Worker
• The Spiritus TRACC South team is on-call to carers day and night, seven days a week -- we value our Carers!

For More information
If you are interested in our  Specialist & Intensive Foster Care program, or would like to know more about becoming a Carer yourself, please contact us