Foster Care
Care for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Children & Young People
Acknowledgement
Lutheran Care celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as the oldest continuing cultures in the world.
We acknowledge and pay our respects to all First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.
We recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of Australia and respect their deep spiritual connection to land, water and sea.
We acknowledge the trauma, grief and loss of the past and present.
Our Reconciliation Vision
Lutheran Care commits to a shared journey that supports reconciliation, healing and justice.
Lutheran Care is committed to reconciliation and improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
Our vision is to build strong foundations and enduring partnerships in our relationships with First Nations people and in the design, delivery and experience of our services in South Australian and the Northern Territory.
Care for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Child
Lutheran Care is committed to reconciliation and improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
Lutheran Care provide training, assessment and ongoing support for foster carers that may be interested in caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child or young persons.
Lutheran Care support the 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Child Placement Principle' for all children in out-of-home care, including foster care, and recognise the importance of building children's identities through connection to culture.
Are you a First Nations person?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people have a unique perspective and experience when caring for ATSI children and young people.
Experience, connection to country, language and a sense of pride all play a vital role in who First Nations people are.
ATSI caregivers are able to convey a sense of 'normal' in a child's life. We encourage you to contact us to enquire about fostering.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle
The fundamental goal of the principle is to enhance and preserve Aboriginal children's connection to family and community, with a strong sense of identity and culture.
The principle recognises the importance of connections to family, community, culture and country in child and family welfare legislation, policy and practice, and asserts that self-determining communities are central to supporting and maintaining those connections.
The principle aims to:
- ensure an understanding that culture underpins and is integral to safety and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and is embedded in policy and practice;
- recognise and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, family members and communities in child welfare matters;
- increase the level of self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in child welfare matters; and
- reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care systems. (From SNAICC’s “The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: A Guide to Support Implementation”)
Proudly Partnering with KWY
Lutheran Care is the proud partnering organisation to KWY, provider of a new Aboriginal kinship support program.
The pilot program is a critical step in ensuring that we engage with our kinship carers of Aboriginal children effectively in a culturally safe manner.
KWY Chief Executive Craig Rigney said: “KWY sees the new program as an opportunity to highlight how culture can truly be a protective factor knowing that children can feel a strong sense of identity when their culture and families are acknowledged and included in decision making.”
Connection to Culture
There are many things a non-Aboriginal family can do to help keep children connected to their culture.
Watch our Long Term Foster Care film and listen to this LCC foster carer talk about some of the ways in which she helps keep the Aboriginal child in her care connected to culture.
Cultural Recognition and Celebrations
Anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations
13 February
National Sorry Day
26 May
Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum
27 May
Reconciliation Week
27 May - 3 June
NAIDOC Week
3-10 July
Children's Day
4 August
About the Artwork
'Oyster Child'
The concept of ‘Oyster Child’ developed from an imagine I had been pondering for some time. The idea stemmed from a training session I attended many years earlier, international clinical paediatric psychologist Dr Dan Popov Ph.D. had described children and their environments as seeds.
The oyster can develop a pearl when a grain of sand or some other non-oyster irritant becomes lodged between the two shells.
The ‘Pearl’ a thing of beauty, is symbolic of the trails, tribulations and traumas that we can experience as children.
In the art piece it shows different stages of the pearl in the oysters development.
The colours of the shell reflect that earth from which we come from, the tones the harder or easier times in life.
The fluid shapes mould themselves around the oyster, protecting, reminding the child from where they are from.
The colours tell the child to stand firm in their heritage, it is a part of your foundation, solid as Uluru and will continue to be so till the end of time.
It symbolises resilience, the journey of life and the many phases we go through.
-Jen, Lutheran Care Aboriginal Cultural Worker
