Caring Families Aotearoa

There are currently over 24,500 New Zealand children and young people growing up in care and protection today. They are New Zealand’s most vulnerable children - children who have been removed from their biological parents, normally due to abuse or neglect.

These children are often severely traumatised and scared and because of this they can display challenging behaviours like self-harming, food hoarding and aggression. It can take years for these kids to heal and to learn to love and trust again.

Children in care require a wide range of supports to help them achieve their full potential at school, in the community, in their personal life and with family and friends. It’s therefore important that caregiving families have free access to free professional support and specialised training so they can help these children and provide a stable, loving home for as long as it’s needed.

Caring Families Aotearoa (formerly Fostering Kids New Zealand) is the only national provider of support and professional development training to anyone caring for children and young people who are not biologically their own.

We're a free membership-based organisation supporting thousands of foster and whànau caregivers and 59 Support Groups throughout the country. We work in partnership with Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, and 36 Non-Government Organisations that are responsible for caregiver support to create better outcomes for New Zealand children and young people in care.

Thank you for caring enough to create better futures for an exceptional group of children and young people who deserve so much more in life.