Resources

Aside from attending training days and courses, there are a lot of other resources available which can assist you in your kinship care journey. Websites, books, YouTube videos, helplines, and factsheets can provide a wealth of useful information, and a lot of it can be accessed for free. Books are the most expensive of these resources, though some are available to borrow at Libraries ACT.

Libraries ACT is a great resource itself. Our modern library system boasts millions of fiction and non-fiction books, DVDs, audiobooks, e-books, kids books, CDs and magazines available to borrow. Items can be requested by library members through the website and delivered to their library branch of choice for pick-up. Libraries ACT also provide access to computers and the internet, spaces on-site for reading and study, as well as a number of community programs and special events. There is so much you can access with your library card and it won’t cost you anything (unless you lose or damage an item of course!)

The resources listed in these pages are predominantly ones that I have found useful or were recommended to me by other carers. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Yet, even here, the choice may seem overwhelming. Those designed specifically for foster and kinship care are a good place to start, with many of these covering topics such as trauma and attachment.

I highly recommend reading The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.

I have broken the resources down into topic areas for easier perusal, though some of these resources span multiple areas of interest, whilst others are very specific. If you are short on time, try reading some of the factsheets or watching the videos.