"Foster Carers"
- Details
- Category: Hansards
- Created: Monday, 13 February 2012 23:30
- Written by Hansards
Mr JOHN ROBERTSON: My question is directed to the Minister for Family and Community Services. Will the Minister give foster parents sitting in the public gallery today some peace of mind and announce right here and right now that the Government will reinstate foster care allowance for parents who care for some of the most vulnerable 16 and 17-year-old children in New South Wales?
Ms PRU GOWARD: As I said earlier, I acknowledge the presence of carers in the gallery today and the wonderful work they do for our most disadvantaged young people. I add to my previous answer by continuing my observations about the importance of education and training and of reforming how we deliver education and training.
The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Canterbury to order for the third time.
Ms PRU GOWARD: I reiterate, education and training are the most important ways of ensuring that children born into disadvantage and poverty are able to leave it with opportunity, with choice and with employment opportunities in particular. That can only be achieved through improving their education and training outcomes. That is why increasing attendance at school so that more students can finish high school and training is a key target of the New South Wales Government's NSW 2021 Plan and my colleague the Minister for Education. We need to reduce the entry of this group to out-of-home care, to improve support and access to mental health, drug and alcohol and other support services to assist carers, particularly ageing carers, to continue to care for adolescents and to enable those in their care to continue and to complete their education and training. Most adolescents struggle at some stage. However, those struggles are a particularly big challenge for the carers of troubled young people who move in and out of the out-of-home care system. This Government is determined to do better for carers and work with them to ensure that this generation of teenagers does not lead the same blighted lives as former generations. (Source : http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20120214026?open&refNavID=HA8_1)
