Christmas time can be a whirlwind of joy, excitement, and emotions. However, supporting foster and kinship children during the Christmas period requires thoughtful planning, empathy, and an understanding of the unique challenges they may face. This blog has eight thoughtful tips and creative ideas for providing meaningful support over the holiday season.

Out-of-home care organisations are living systems, alive with thoughts, feelings, and values. As a living organism, organisations too are vulnerable to the toxic stress of caring for young people who have experienced trauma. Just as young people disengage with caring adults when they don't feel safe, staff become disconnected from "The Management" when they don't feel supported through the stress that comes with caring. Organisational leadership must attune to staff needs to contextualise staff experiences and plan for change that sustains the self-renewing capacities of their organisational system.

November 30 is the International Day of Consent, a great day to plan a consent related conversations with a young person, to explore a consent-myth or realign a perspective about relationships - no matter how big or small. We are celebrating a fantastic year working collaboratively across ACF and CETC with OzChild on the When Yes Means YES project. Our online course has this year been piloted with OzChild foster carers, covering trauma-informed discussions, grooming, online safety, healthy relationships, boundaries and consent.