Family Options

You can care once a week, once a month or more…

Family Options provides full and part-time care for young people with disability through family based placements. There are different types of arrangements, from looking after someone just on weekends to supporting them until they are ready to be independent.

People who require placement come from a variety of backgrounds with different levels of disability: physical, intellectual, behavioural, sensory and emotional.

Yooralla is committed to the safety, protection and care of children and adults with disability. We strive to provide high quality support services where the individual’s rights and wellbeing are paramount. Our carers are carefully screened and assessed before becoming accredited and matched to a person with disability.

Why care?

Becoming a carer is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

Being there for someone else; sharing their milestone moments, supporting them to explore, develop and strengthen their skills are all things which can be life changing for you.

By giving some of your time, you can make a difference in a young person's life.

Carer's stories

The Family Options program supports family based and out of home care placements for young people with disability across Victoria. The program currently has full-time, part-time and respite accredited carers who provide part-time and full-time care for children with disability who are unable to live with their birth family. There are also shared care arrangements, where a child might live with their birth family some of the time and also with a part-time carer. Some of the carers from this program have shared their stories of what caring for a young person with disability brings to their lives. More carer's stories

Care options

We offer a number of different care arrangements:

Respite care	The person stays with the carer on a flexible or planned basis, which can range from a few hours through to overnight or several days. This can take place in the carer's home or out in the community.
Full-time care	The person lives with the carer on a daily basis in the same home and may also spend time e.g. one or two weekends a month with their birth family or spend time with other carers.
Shared care	The person may alternate between spending time with both their birth family and primary carer. This could be for a night, weekend or an extended break. Time is shared with the birth familiy and a primary carer which provides families with an ongoing planned care arrangement.

Families seeking alternative care arrangements for their child or young person are referred to us by the Department of Human Services (DHS). They must also be registered on the DHS Disability Support Register.

Becoming a carer

Carers can come from a range of backgrounds and life experiences. You may be single or have a partner; with or without children; studying, working or retired.

If you are considering becoming a carer, speak to a Family Options team member. We will help you every step of the way.

Steps to becoming a carer

Step 1 – Attend an introductory information session

Come along to an information session or meet with a member of the Family Options team.

Step 2 – Complete an application pack

Complete and return the application pack, including working with children check, police check, medical report and life story.

Step 3 – Assessment

A member of the Family Options team will come to your home to meet with you and begin working on a comprehensive assessment and training process.

Step 4 – Accreditation

An assessment report is developed and presented to a Yooralla Suitability and Assessment Panel for you accreditation as a home based carer. This process may take up to 4 months.

Yooralla is committed to the safety, protection and care of children. All prospective carers are carefully screened, trained and assessed before becoming accredited and matched to a person with disability.

Support for carers

A case manager is assigned to support you in your caring role and to monitor and support the development of the child
A 24 hour on-call support service is available
Ongoing training is provided and social support is provided through regular social events
Carer payments are provided as recognition of the additional costs incurred with caring for a young person with disability in your home

Support for families

Family Options provides a range of services in Victoria. Our programs aim to allow children and young people with disability to be supported in a family environment by matching carers to the needs of the child and family. Find out more about the type of care options available.

Some programs are only available to families living in particular municipalities in Victoria, while others provide a state wide service.

Once linked with a carer through the program, it is hoped that a long term, supportive friendship is developed between the young person, family and carer to build on the person’s support network when they exit the program.

We work closely with the young person or child, the families and the carers to provide the best outcomes for the children and young adults who are part of the Family Options program.

Yooralla is committed to the safety, protection and care of children and young people with disability. All carers need to complete a number of screening checks prior to becoming a carer for any of the programs.