Your attention is drawn to the latest Director-General’s COVID-19 UPDATE sent to all Foster and Kinship Carers yesterday.

This UPDATE provides information about the following:

Changes to Term 2 learning

Advice is provided about:

• The recent announcement by Education Queensland that schools and community kindergartens will move to home-based learning for the first five weeks of Term 2
• The provisions made for children who are receiving Child Safety services or who are in care and living away from their families to attend school, early childhood education and care, and outside school hours care services
• The process for decisions to be made about each child’s attendance to be made on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with each child’s case plan
• Contact that should be made with each child’s Child Safety Officer to talk through the most suitable options available to them
• Contact that can also be made with each child’s school, early childhood education and care service, and/ or outside school hours care service to further discuss these options
• A range of additional curriculum resources that can be accessed from the learning@home website including advice for carers around preparing for learning at home.

• A partnership between NDIS and supermarkets including Woolworths, Coles, IGA and Foodworks that allows carers of children with disability to purchase food and other items on-line and have these items delivered to their homes
• The process to be followed in obtaining a code from Child Safety Officers that allows carers to enter this scheme
• Further information that can be accessed from the NDIS website and Facebook page.

• Encouragement to carers to download the Carer Connect app to receive further notifications on the latest COVID-19 developments
• Expansion of the 24-hour, seven days a week, Foster and Kinship Care Support Line (Phone 1300 729 309) to provide information about matters related to COVID-19, crisis response and support, additional support for carer households, and support for new provisionally approved carers.