Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community & Kinship Care

Through our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community and Kinship Care is a way of providing a family life for jarjums (children) who cannot live with their own parents. All over the world, community and kinship families open their hearts to jarjums (children) in need, and share their family life with them.

Community and Kinship care is often used to provide temporary care while parents get help sorting out problems, or to help jarjums or young people through a difficult period in their lives. Often jarjums will return home once the problems that caused them to come into care have been resolved and it is clear that their parents are able to look after them safely. Others may stay in long-term community care, some may be adopted, and others will move on to live independently.

• If you would like to speak to our team about becoming a community or kinship carer to ‘Nuture our young warriors’ please call 5442 3992 or email us
• The team will send you out an info pack and invite you and your family to a information evening
• Nervous, don’t be we are here for you through your whole journey

REFOCUS’s aim is to make the right of every child to live in a family a reality by promoting and encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to reach out to their jarjums.

We encourage anybody thinking of community or kinship care to find out more from their local agencys.

Globally, there are a wide range of foster, community and kinship care placements. This ranges from short term community and kinship care to long term community and kinshp care.

However, there are also some unique placement types such as Parent and Child placements, which involves providing support and guidance to a young mother and/or father, helping them develop their parenting skills while offering care for their children.