Forestdale local Maria Whatley believes there is no better gift in life than to give a kid a home. Over the last 10 years, she has done that for 86 foster kids.
She could look after them for a week, a fortnight, a month or much, much longer. No matter how brief the stay, she always treats them as if they are her children for a lifetime.
“It’s just a chance to show these kids there are people out there who care and love them, and people out there who want to give them stable homes,” she said.
Over the last two months, Mrs Whatley and husband Stephan have been grieving the loss of their 15-year-old foster son, JJ, who passed away unexpectedly on December 24 due to underlying medical conditions.
They took JJ under their wing from when he was 5-years-old.
JJ was non-verbal and suffered from cerebral palsy, spastic diplegia, spastic quadriplegia, and epilepsy.
“He was soon to have his 16th birthday in March which is a milestone that is going to be very hard for us,” she said.
Despite the pain of the last two months, Mr and Mrs Whatley are ready to return to fostering because they know there is a dire need for more carers.
“We want to get back into it because there’s a lot of kids out there and not enough carers,” she said.
“We’re doing everything we can to move forward and help other kids while not forgetting our child.”
This need is reflected by the Queensland government’s urgent call for more families to consider fostering.
Last week, the minister for children and youth justice Leanne Linard said the pandemic has increased the number of homes needed.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an increased need for foster carers,” she said.
“While we are very fortunate to already have thousands of caring Queenslanders who foster, more are needed as the number of children requiring out-of-home care increases.”
In the last financial year, 1,641 families became first-time carers.
Mrs Whatley said there can never be enough. When there are no carers to absorb numbers, residential care becomes the only option, which is not ideal.
“We want to keep them from going into residential homes with carers – that’s not a life for a child who’s eight to 10 years old,” she said.
“They need a family situation, somewhere to call home, where they are still classed as a family.”
While there are legitimate reasons to rehome kids due to parents who do the wrong thing, she sees too many being taken off parents who have not had a chance to prove themselves.
“There are some of these young mums who deserve to have a break and deserve to keep their child,” she said.
“Having watched it for so long, this is why so many kids end up in care.”
It creates a cycle where good parents who make a mistake fall through the cracks and are tainted by the reputation of the irresponsible ones.
“There are mums who end up with seven kids in care because every time they have one, it gets removed because they are not trusted, so it’s just a never-ending cycle,” she said.
Mrs Whatley said parents in that situation should consider undergoing parental training, even if authorities state it is not needed. She said this will look good when it comes time to have a case reassessed.
