Promising evaluation highlights a model that holds carers, and helps them stay

“They are holding us, so we can hold the children.”

Perth, 7 September, 2026 – Australian Childhood Foundation has released new evaluation findings showing strong early results for its therapeutic foster care program in Western Australia, revealing a model that strengthens carers, improves support, and shows real potential in keeping foster carers in the system.

The evaluation report, Holding Us So We Can Hold The Children, was undertaken by the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University, drawing on child profile data, focus groups with foster carers, staff and external stakeholders and program documentation.

Australian Childhood Foundation’s Western Australian Foster Care program commenced in early 2024, at a time when foster carer numbers were falling nationally. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2023–24 a total of 910 foster care households commenced and 1,300 exited representing a net loss of around 390 households in a single year, continuing a decline seen over several years.

The evaluation shows that carers are surrounded by a level of therapeutic, practical and relational support that is rarely seen in foster care generally and is the kind of wraparound support that makes it possible for them to meet the significant needs of the children in the program. Rather than simply managing behaviour, ACF carers and Care Teams are supported through therapeutic assessment to understand meaning, regulation and underlying needs, and thus shifting practice from control to real connection with the children they care for.

The evaluation found that carers wanted to stay and consistently described feeling valued, heard and supported, including experienced foster carers who said this was different from their previous experiences of the care system. Carers also described being directly asked what they needed and experiencing the Care Team as more collaborative and less hierarchical.

The evaluation also found that cultural connectedness is at the heart of healing. For Aboriginal children, cultural identity is strengthened through the Cultural Connectedness Plan, which links language group, kin and Country into everyday care. Carers described cultural engagement as something real and relational, not just a checklist. Children experience culture through the people around them, and carers are supported to build those relationships with sensitivity, continuity and respect. This approach deepens belonging, safety and identity for children whose lives have been shaped by trauma and instability.

“I helped develop one of the earliest therapeutic foster care models in Victoria, but it has never been resourced to its full potential. This evaluation shows what happens when the model is implemented as it was designed. Carers feel held, they stay, and most importantly, children who have experienced trauma have a real chance to heal,” said Australian Childhood Foundation Chief Executive Officer Janise Mitchell.

Professor Lynne McPherson from Southern Cross University, who led the evaluation with colleagues Dr Catharine Simmons and Associate Professor Emily Hindman, said the early findings were encouraging.

“The program is showing enormous promise, with carers, therapeutic specialists, program managers and external stakeholders consistently reporting the unique aspects of the wrap-around support, enabling the carer-child relationship to flourish,” said Professor McPherson.

Australian Childhood Foundation Regional Director WA Shaun Chandran said the evaluation makes clear that relationships are the engine of therapeutic care. “Children experience foster care through relationships. Carers can only offer relational safety when the system offers it to them. These findings remind us to keep asking the essential question: who holds the carers?”

Phase 2 will examine child wellbeing, placement stability and developmental trajectories over time.

Read the report: Holding Us So We Can Hold The Children – Southern Cross University Research Portal

Media enquiries:

Gina Dafalia
PR and Communications
Phone: 0447558195
Email: gdafalia@childhood.org.au