The Value of External Support Services when Children Transition into Foster Care: An Example of a Volunteering Project

When children are removed from their homes in an emergency situation they leave behind some or all of those familiar items they consider their own. The loss of this sense of ownership, combined with the shock of moving to an unfamiliar foster environment, can leave them afraid, traumatised and emotionally scarred. A group of volunteers addressed this by forming the Love and Care project in Brisbane, Australia. The aim of this project is to provide kits to children from birth to 17 years of age upon them being placed in foster care. These care kits, containing clothing, school supplies, toys and other items, fill a need for the children to have something they can hold on to and call their own. This paper demonstrates the value of an external support service that can play a substantial part in maximising better outcomes for children transitioning into foster care. It aims to describe the structure and practices of Love and Care and, from the lessons learnt through observation of the project practices that created and sustained it, to make recommendations. It also briefly addresses the importance of including external services in the evaluation and research of foster children's outcomes.