Considered being a respite carer but are not quite sure what the process is like? Ah no worries, let us fill you in!
The Home Assessment
A case worker and recruitment officer will go down to your home for a short chat to explain the service to you. More importantly they are there to carry out a safety inspection of your home. They will determine if your home is a safe environment for a child before commencing with the next step of the application.
Screening
All our applicants are screened for security reasons. You are going to be caring for someone else’s child after all. Our screening involves all members of the household, including domestic helpers and tenants.
Interview
If you pass the home assessment and screening procedures, your friendly respite carer assessor will contact you to schedule a series of interviews. During these sessions, the assessor will ask questions about your family background, your discipline methods and other information that will allow him or her to get to know you better. You can also indicate the profile of respite care and child you are able to care for. This interview sessions typically last 3 hours and will involve our assessor talking to all household members.
Medical Screening
Caring for a child necessitates the good health of our respite carers. You do not need to be in tip top shape but we do need you to be of reasonably good health. You will need to go for a requisite medical screening at any Raffles Medical Clinic with a medical letter given by Sanctuary Care. The screening is free of charge and fully paid for by Sanctuary Care.
Panel Approval
The respite carer assessor will put up a report to a panel of advisers to deliberate on the suitability of the candidates to take on the rigors of giving respite care. The panel of advisers is made up of key management personnel of Boys’ Town.
Caseworker tip: Becoming a respite carer is not a decision to be taken likely. Respite caregiving is a family decision as it will affect everyone in the household when a child comes into a picture. Do have a conversation with your family members, and, more importantly, your children. We would be happy to share with them the wonders of respite care but you must be the first person they hear from first.