CEO Message May 2024Kia ora, We received a fantastic response to our caregiver survey last month, and I would like to personally thank every one of you who shared your feedback with us. Gaining insight from you, our caregivers, is truly invaluable when it comes to...

Mind-mindedness: The Key to Connecting and Building Trust with Your ChildChildren who have experienced trauma in their early lives need to feel connected. Connection is the foundation upon which we can build a loving and secure relationship that will help heal our...

CEO Message April 2024Kia ora, This edition of snippets will be arriving to you at the end of the Easter long weekend. Whether you went away for the weekend or stayed at home, I hope you’ve enjoyed the extra few days off and treated yourself to a hot cross bun and...

CEO Message March 2024Kia ora, March is a very special month for our organisation with one of our biggest events of the year, Foster Care Awareness Week, happening from Monday 4th – Sunday 10th March. We hope that as caregivers you always feel appreciated for the mahi...

CEO Message February 2024Kia ora koutou, Welcome to 2024! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year with whānau and managed to enjoy some time outside in the sun. I trust the back-to-school transition went as smoothly as possible, and for those of you who are...

Kia ora koutou, Well, here we are again at the end of another year! With Christmas just a few short weeks away, it’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed by our busy lives – finishing up at work for the year, school prizegivings, family gatherings to organise, and of...

Vikki's StoryA TERRIBLE SITUATION – TWO T-SHIRTS and A TIN OF TUNA Sometimes we have caregiver stories shared with our team that remind us of the vital difference that our support and training can make to caregivers who have been ‘thrown in the deep end.’ Caregivers...

Kia ora I hope your tamariki had a smooth transition back to school and that the first few weeks back have gone without too many hiccups. We know that for some children the return to school isn't easy, there can be high levels of anxiety, and a display of behaviours...

Kia ora I’m sure you are all as delighted as I am that spring is here, and winter is done and dusted for another year. This winter certainly brought its fair share of extreme weather events around the country, and our aroha continues to go out to those of you who have...

Dakota's Foster Care StoryDakota Albert is a 26-year-old mum to three gorgeous boys, and a wife to her high school sweetheart. Having grown up in foster care, she had a tough path to where she is now, but this has shaped the incredible wāhine that she is today. A...

Kia ora Thank you to those of you who provided feedback on our *Care & Protection Green Paper. We received feedback from over 30 individuals, from government organisations, ministry officials, other relevant care sector organisations, as well as you, our caregiver...

Kia ora June was a big month for Caring Families Aotearoa as we released our Care & Protection Green Paper to government organisations, ministry officials and other relevant care sector organisations, as well as you, our caregiver members. Our Green Paper...

Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu 2023 (National Volunteer Week 2023)In June we celebrated Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu (National Volunteer Week).  A lot of what we do here at Caring Families Aotearoa is powered by an incredible army of volunteers; we’re able to reach more caregivers and...

Critical Support Volunteer: Wayne MarshallWayne Marshall has been a Volunteer Critical Support Worker with Caring Families Aotearoa since 2009. In honour of Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu (National Volunteer Week), we spoke to Wayne about his experience as a Critical Support...

Kia ora , Winter is officially here – time to break out the hot water bottles and pumpkin soup (if you haven’t already). Unfortunately, along with the cooler temperatures we have seen a number of severe weather events around the country.  We are holding those who have...

What is PACE?To put it simply, PACE is one of the core components of Dyadic Developmental Practice (DDP) developed by Doctor Dan Hughes. PACE is an acronym that stands for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy, and is a central part of the parenting model we...

A Story of PACEOne of our Regional Coordinators, who is also a caregiver, has experienced first-hand the effects of developmental trauma on his children, and the power of PACE in helping them heal. For those of you who aren’t familiar, PACE is an acronym that stands...

Kia ora , This month we celebrate Mother’s Day and I sincerely hope all you wonderful mothers are treated to the day off and special time with whānau. As I reflect on what Mother's Day means for me, I realise how blessed I am to be celebrating the day with four...

Well, what a welcome to 2023 some of us have had. Our thoughts are with all our affected whānau around the country. The stories and images that have come from the Upper North, East Coast and some of our central north regions have been heartbreaking. So many people...

A message for our members affected by cyclone GabrielleAs cyclone Gabrielle continues to cause devastation and loss in the North Island, we would like to take a moment to let you know that our hearts are with you, and we are thinking of those that have been affected....