The Foster Care System Is a Multi-Tiered Web of Corruption

The following is what I wrote back in September 2018 and which has been read and shared numerous times. 

The reality of Foster Care is anything but what the agencies will have you believe. There is currently a national push to get more foster carers into the system because the system has alienated so many former carers out of it. There are 2 parts to the equation. The system needs to steal kids in order to maximise profits, and it also needs carers to place those children with. However, carers are leaving in droves because of the appalling way they have been treated by Departments of Child Protection and the NGO foster agencies. The entire system is built on extracting as many Federal funds as possible while paying a minimum to the carers. So the whole idea of fostering is now being presented as desirable to anyone.

Do our kids a favour and don’t get into this corrupt hell hole of a system. You are being lied to in ad campaigns, and you will be lied to again when you get into the system. Four out of five of kids in foster care should not be there. They have a loving family who desperately want to get them home. And that is where they belong. There are many statistics that show foster care does not benefit the child, and actually is detrimental to their upbringing and well being.

I would like to add to this as much has come to light subsequent to writing this short piece. The horrors in the foster care system are beyond what even I could have imagined.

Through hearing the stories of many carers I have been able to determine there is a three tiered system of foster care. And I should note that what I am about to describe occurs in every state of Australia. From highest to lowest it works as follows. Everything is in regard to how children and parents are reported on.

1. At the top are foster carers who are prepared to work with CPS or the NGO that they are fostering under. What working with them means is that the carers will be rewarded for their efforts of supporting the agency they are contracted to. Rewards can consist of many things but from my research have included:

New homes
Home extensions
Paying off home loans
Installation of in-ground pools
Holidays both locally and overseas
Cars and other vehicles
Cruises

What is required of these foster carers for these “rewards” is to maintain bad reports about the children in their care and in regard to the relationship they observe with their natural parents. Mostly these reports are meant to paint the situation as being irreconcilable between kids and their parents. It has been observed that kids in these placements are generally those of parents who are causing the Department trouble, i.e. reporting case workers, managers, carers for inadequate standards of care and professionalism. And it is also noted that those carers tend to be abusive towards children. I have had many confirmed reports that these carers are constantly abusing the children in their care to maintain and worsen the level of trauma. Those carers who get house extensions paid for generally are looking after a number of children at once. The spending of money on luxury items, it seems is generally to coax the child to not want to go home because what they are receiving in care is more than what their parents can afford to offer them. CPS do not want these kids to go home, because doing so may expose the systemic corruption. So it is cheaper for them to offer these massive incentives to those carers who are prepared to provide the reports that CPS ask them to. These reports are always lies.

2. In the middle tier these carers sometimes will report negative situations, sometimes positive. Most are unlikely to report information that is an outright lie, which can sometimes be requested for CPS or the NGO, but are happy to report a mix of good and bad. The Department sees these carers as useful, and like to keep them handy and on the books, but they are not regarded in the same way as a level one carer is. They may get some extra financial help from time to time, but nothing like what a level one carer does.

3. A level 3 carer is regarded as disposable. This is the level where those who really want to help kids are placed. These are the carers who are not in it for the money but for the benefit of the kids. Every one who I have spoken to genuinely has their heart in it and is child focused. Yet these carers are the most vulnerable of all. For a start, they are lied to by CPS and the NGO’s about why the kids are in care. The kids will always arrive in care traumatised because CPS ensures the removal process is as traumatising as possible. That is part of the script they play out. The carers are told they have been removed from bad parents, and naturally the carers want to provide a better environment for these kids. These carers will be given only the basic subsidy for the children, plus be eligible for the Family Tax Benefit Parts A & B from Centrelink, which covers only the most basic of needs for the children. The common thread with these carers that I found when speaking with them, was that CPS would often ask them to put in a negative report and they would refuse because that was not the truth. Many of these carers have been fostering for a number of years without any problems at all. Then all of a sudden, when they refuse to report lies they find themselves being targeted by the Department. Kids are removed from their care and re-homed and often accusations are levelled by the Department or NGO towards the carers resulting in them losing their ability to foster children in the future. Many lose their ability to hold a Working with Children card due to the unproven allegations. So what type of stories are there? Well, the most disturbing are allegations of sexual abuse. One case in particular took several tens of thousands to defend and the accused was eventually acquitted based on the evidence, but CPS still refused to allow the carers to foster again in the future. Other accusations are completely trumped up with not foundation whatsoever and often provable as such, yet the same result occurs.

The difficulty level 3 foster carers have is that there is nothing in law that protects them. Parents at least still have a legal bond with their children. Children are often removed from Level 3 carers with little or no notice, sometimes as little as an hour. Due to privacy laws CPS do not have to divulge who has stated what, so foster carers have no where to turn, and have not legal backing. Even with all the evidence in the world that clearly refutes CPS allegations, most lose their licence to be foster carers and hold a Working with Children check. Many become financially ruined due to having invested in their own future in full expectation of fostering children for the foreseeable future.

If you ever think about becoming a foster carer, talk to a former foster carer first. You will generally hear one very important word. DON’T.

Related:

The South Australian Government has denied accusations that it has stopped paying for house and car upgrades which help foster carers accommodate more children.