Become a community caregiver

If you're 19 or older you can apply to become a community caregiver.

Children and youth come from all types of ethnic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds so we welcome and encourage diverse applicants. It is not necessary to own your own home. Your financial situation does not need to be a barrier.

To be a community caregiver, you need:

• a commitment to carry out the day-to-day responsibilities required to care for a child; and
• appropriate space within your home for the child or willingness to provide care in another caregiver home
• to successfully complete the application process.

Application process

1. Contact your local office to receive information and ask any questions
2. You'll be asked to
   • Fill out an application;
   • provide consent for child welfare and criminal records checks; and
   • to participate in training and a home study process.
3. Your social worker will visit you in your home and ask about:
   • your health;
   • your personal history;
   • your interests;
   • your lifestyle;
   • your child care experiences; and
   • the type of child or children you feel can best be helped in your home.

Once the approval process is complete, we'll ask you to sign an agreement.

After you apply

We need to ensure children are placed in home that have gone through a thorough assessment process. These processes can vary in length depending on the information required. Deciding to become a community caregiver is a big commitment and you'll want to know as much as you can before you make your decision.

• General homes are:
  • recruited and approved as general caregivers;
  • available to accept any children; and
  • available to provide emergency or respite care.
• Kinship homes are approved to care for children who:
  • are related: or
  • have a strong and close relationship with the fostering family.
• Respite care homes are approved only for the short-term placement of specific children to provide relief for another family.
• Emergency homes are trained to receive children in the event of a crisis with little to no notice.

The needs of community caregivers will vary depending on their life circumstances, and the children they are looking after. This means that there is a wide variety of individual financial and social supports and training available depending on the identified needs of the caregiver home and children in the home.

Compensation

Caregivers are reimbursed for costs related to raising a child, including:

• a daily rate, which is:
  • intended to help cover the child’s living expenses;
  • paid each month;
  • based on the number of days the child lives in the caregiver home;
  • non-taxable; and
  • adjusted to the consumer price index;
• a clothing allowance;
• the child’s medical, dental and optical expenses, including prescriptions;
• some recreation expenses; and
• some holiday travel.

Special needs children and youth

If a child is in care for more than 30 days, we'll assess them to see if they need extra funding to support any special needs.