Permanent Care

Supporting families and children for a brighter future

Our Permanent Care program arranges placements of children aged up to 12 years who have been removed from the care of their birth parents due to safety concerns.

CatholicCare Victoria’s Permanent Care program welcomes applications for permanent care from both single people and couples who reside permanently in Victoria.

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Providing a vulnerable child with ongoing love and stability, watching them grow, and seeing them overcome their initial difficulties and make developmental gains is a rewarding experience.

We offer support to children, biological parents and permanent carers involved with the program, including support with contact and information exchange. If necessary, our support can continue even after the placement has been legalised.

Permanent Care is different from Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care

Permanent Care is a process of providing a forever family to a child who is in need of stability and consistency.

Children placed in Permanent Care have been removed from the care of their birth parents due to safety concerns for the child. Children can range from infants to the age of 12 years and there is great demand for permanent carers of older children.

When a child is placed in Permanent Care, their birth certificate will not be changed and they will keep the surname of their natural parents. Children in permanent care are entitled to ongoing contact with their birth parents and birth parents are entitled to contact and information exchange of photos and updates on the progress of their child.

Permanent Care is only available in Victoria, and may be considered the equivalent of an adoption order for older children in other states of Australia.

See our Kinship Care program 

We work closely with Foster Care agencies

CatholicCare Victoria does not have a Foster Care program, but we work with children in Foster Care who are in need of permanent care.

Foster Care is the temporary care of a child who cannot live with their birth parents for a range of reasons, whether voluntary or court ordered.

This temporary care can include a range of options, from an overnight stay to long-term care stretching over several years.

How do I access this service?

Birth parents, and single people/families considering becoming permanent carers, who live in Victoria can access our Permanent Care program by contacting our Footscray office.

Community service organisations and health professionals can make referrals into this program by contacting us.

Fees

There is no charge to access this service.

This service is funded by the Victorian State Government Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

More information

Client Rights and ResponsibilitiesChild Safety at CatholicCare