• PHOTO: Foster caring is a family affair for Ethan, Neveah, Zandra and Carl Becker who have opened their home and hearts to local children in need of support.
Foster and Kinship Care Week got underway on Sunday 11 September and is designed to acknowledge the selfless work of those who look after children and young people in need.
The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare reported in June this year that there were about 46,200 children in out-of-home care across Australia to 30 June 2021, with about 11,500 entering care and almost the same number leaving care in the 12 month period.
No community is immune from this need and families willing to help meet the demand for temporary or long-term care are highly sought after.
Local couple Carl and Zandra Becker are among those rare and generous people in the Coonamble area and have taken seven people into their home ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers.
While two of their biological children have already left home, Ethan (14) and Neveah (16) are still living at home..
Mrs Becker says that she had always wanted to help out but that they had decided to wait until their own children were old enough to be part of the decision.
“Before we started about two and a half years ago we all sat down and had a really good chat and everyone was in agreement,” she said. “We all had to be involved.”
Up until recently, when the eldest foster child (16 years) returned to live with a biological parent, there were 11 people in their house.
“There can be quite a battle for the bathroom each morning,” Mrs Becker said.
“Especially when it’s a single-bathroom house.”
When asked to describe the monolithic family, which seems like a throwback to earlier generations, Zandra says “It’s very noisy and it’s very happy.
“Everybody knows the routine and we all get along.
“We’re really lucky because Ethan and Neveah are very helpful in the household and the younger kids just love them.
“It all just seems to work.”
The Beckers hadn’t originally planned to take in so many children and started as short-term emergency carers.
“Then a child came into our care who was one of five siblings, scattered all over the place, so I put my hand up and fought for about a year to try to get them all brought together under a single roof.”
All the children currently in the Beckers’ care are classed as emergency care, but they’ve had one child for two years and the rest for more than a year.
The Beckers say returning to preschool and primary school-aged has been a real experience.
“We lived on properties in Queensland so our own children did distance education,” Mrs Becker said. “It’s certainly been different to see that side of it.”
Zandra is hoping the current situation will become permanent. “I’d love it if they all stayed long-term,” she says. “If it came to the point of having to let them go, that would be a very sad occasion.”
Asked to name the hardest part of being a foster carer, Zandra doesn’t hesitate: “Saying goodbye to the children who move on, especially when we’re talking about little ones you’ve had from under a year old.
“They see you as their family and they don’t properly understand what is happening.
“It’s the absolute hardest part.”
And the best part of being a foster carer? According to Zandra, “It’s amazing to see the smiles of the children and watch them excel at various opportunities they wouldn’t have had in their previous situation.”
“The love and care can change their whole outlook,” she said.
“It feels great just being able to support them as they continue to develop. And the love. The love they give back is amazing.”
Young Ethan agrees.
“The best thing is to see them change, from how they are when they come to how they are now,” he said.
Mrs Becker says that a positive, loving environment can make the world of difference.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s five minutes or ten years, hopefully you can make a small difference that stays with them when they’re adults.”