Foster Care Week Queensland: Open Days, Events, and How to Use Them

Every year, Queensland families attend Foster Care Week events and leave more confused than when they arrived. Not because the events are badly run — many are genuinely well-organised — but because the information delivered on the day only scratches the surface of what you actually need to know before you can make a decision.

This guide explains what Foster Care Week and open day events in Queensland look like in practice, what you will and will not learn on the day, and what to do with that information once you get home.

What Is Foster Care Week?

Foster Care Week is a national awareness week coordinated across Australia, typically held in September each year. In Queensland, it is led by Foster Care Queensland (FCQ) — the state's peak body for foster and kinship carers — in partnership with the Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services (DCSSDS) and Licensed Care Services (LCS) across the state.

The week exists primarily to recruit new carers. Queensland consistently has more children entering care than it has approved carers available to take them. As of the most recent reporting period, over 11,000 children in Queensland are living in out-of-home care. The recruitment shortfall is not a minor gap — it is a structural crisis, and Foster Care Week is one of the primary public-facing responses to it.

During the week, Licensed Care Services typically run:

• Open information nights at local community halls, churches, and agency offices
• Webinar sessions for people in regional or remote areas who cannot travel
• Social media campaigns featuring current carer stories
• Pop-up tables at shopping centres, particularly in South East Queensland

What Happens at a Queensland Foster Care Open Day?

Open days are run by individual Licensed Care Services, not by the Department directly. The experience will vary depending on which agency is hosting.

A typical session runs two to three hours and covers:

1. A brief overview of the Queensland foster care system — the role of DCSSDS, the types of care available (emergency, short-term, long-term, kinship), and the legal framework under the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld)
2. A carer panel — usually two or three experienced foster carers who share their stories and answer questions from the audience
3. Information about the agency's specific support model — what a Carer Support Worker does, how frequently you can expect contact, and any specialist programs the agency runs
4. A brief description of the assessment process — the Fostering Connections training program, the SDM (Structured Decision Making) assessment, and the Blue Card requirement
5. A Q&A session — typically the most valuable part of the evening

What open days rarely cover in useful depth: the financial reality of the fortnightly allowance versus actual costs, how to compare agencies against each other, the specific triggers for a Standard of Care review, or what to do if your Blue Card is delayed or returned with a negative notice.

Who Runs Open Days in Queensland?

In Queensland, foster carer recruitment and support is delivered through Licensed Care Services — non-government organisations contracted by the state. The major providers who regularly run open day events include:

• Anglicare Southern Queensland — strong coverage across South East Queensland, including the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast corridors
• Mercy Community — Brisbane and surrounding regions, with a focus on long-term placement stability
• UnitingCare Queensland — one of the largest providers, with a broad regional and rural network
• Churches of Christ Care — significant presence in regional Queensland
• Life Without Barriers — specialises in intensive foster care for children with complex disability or trauma presentations
• Barnardos Queensland — early years intervention focus

You are not required to attend an open day run by the agency you ultimately choose to register with. Open days are information events, not enrolment sessions. Going to three different agencies' information nights before making a decision is not only acceptable — it is advisable.

What Foster Care Week Cannot Tell You

The limitation of Foster Care Week events is structural, not a reflection of any agency's intent. LCS providers are simultaneously your support service and your recruiter. They have a genuine interest in signing you up, which means the information presented at open days is curated.

You are unlikely to hear at an open day:

• That 76% of Queensland carers report being out of pocket by up to $400 per fortnight after the allowance, according to Queensland Foster and Kinship Care advocacy research
• That the Blue Card processing timeline can extend to 12 months in complex cases, stalling your placement before it begins
• That the SDM assessment itself takes four to six months minimum, and some applicants experience delays of over a year
• That the No Card, No Start rule applies to every adult in your household — including an adult child who has returned home temporarily
• How to compare LCS agencies in your region based on staff turnover, carer-to-support-worker ratios, or availability of after-hours support

This is not criticism of the agencies. It is the inherent tension in any system where the recruiter and the support provider are the same organisation.

How to Get More from an Open Day

If you are attending a Foster Care Week event or open day in Queensland, bring specific questions rather than waiting for the presentation to cover what you need. Questions that tend to generate more useful answers:

• "What is your current carer-to-support-worker ratio in this region?"
• "How do you handle after-hours support when a placement breaks down outside business hours?"
• "What support do you offer if we receive a Standard of Care review or allegation?"
• "How long has your most recent emergency carer been waiting for their first placement?"
• "Do you have carers who specialise in First Nations children, and how do you support Cultural Support Plans?"

The quality of the answers you receive will tell you as much about the agency as the content of the answers themselves.

After the Open Day: Your Actual Next Steps

If you attend a Foster Care Week event and decide you want to proceed, the practical next steps in Queensland are:

1. Register your expression of interest with the LCS you have chosen (or with DCSSDS directly, if you prefer)
2. Obtain your Customer Reference Number (CRN) from the Department of Transport and Main Roads — this is the first step toward your Blue Card, and it takes time, so start early
3. Apply for Blue Cards for every adult in your household simultaneously — do not wait until you have formally enrolled with an agency
4. Complete the Fostering Connections preparation training — this is mandatory and typically takes four to six weeks depending on the delivery format
5. Begin the SDM assessment — in-depth interviews, a home safety inspection, and a review of your financial, physical, and household circumstances

The full process from open day to first placement typically takes between eight and fourteen months in Queensland. Understanding that timeline before you begin prevents the most common reason carers drop out: losing momentum during a process they expected to move faster.

Foster Care Week Is the Start, Not the Answer

Foster Care Week open days serve a genuine purpose — they put a human face on a system that can feel abstract and bureaucratic, and they connect prospective carers with experienced voices who understand the realities of the role. But they are an entry point, not a preparation program.

If you have been to an open day, or are planning to attend one, and want a complete picture of what the Queensland system expects of you before your first conversation with an LCS, the Queensland Foster Care Guide covers the full process: Blue Card logistics, agency selection, the assessment framework, financial planning, and what to expect at each stage of approval.

The difference between carers who make it through to approval and those who drop out mid-assessment is usually not motivation. It is preparation.

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