A coalition of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren say families in the group are "battling to live", with only 10 per cent of members receiving government payments to aid the children in their care.
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Gavin Breen, the secretary of the Raymond Terrace based Rivergum Grandparents as Parents Support Group, says it's "absolutely criminal" that many relatives raising children are given no support. The majority of the 30 carers in his group are living off pension payments or superannuation.
"Some of them are lucky to pay all their bills. The kids miss out on so much," Mr Breen said.
Associate Professor in the University of Newcastle's school of humanities and social science Wendy Foote, said that while government policies in NSW prioritized the placement of children within family, bureaucracy was creating "barriers to support" for those carers.
"If you've come in to be a kinship carer because of child protection concerns, that's through the state government's Family and Community Services, you should be getting the equivalent of a foster care allowance," she said. "But sometimes family members put their hands up to care for their relatives' children and it doesn't formally go through the state's administrative systems. They might create safety before the department has to intervene.
"Then the department might say 'The children are now safe, so this is not our business'."
She also said that if it's the federal family court, rather than the children's court, that places children in the care of relatives, they do not qualify for payments.
Then the department might say 'The children are now safe, so this is not our business'.
"It's essentially a private court, so not like the child court system at the state level... so that jurisdiction is not responsible for ensuring carers are financially supported. "
One of Rivergum's members said she had single-handedly cared for her grandchildren, 6 and 8, after Family Court orders put them in her custody four years ago due to the risk of harm posed by their parents.
"I don't get anything. And I had to go from 34 hours of work a week to casual to look after them," she said.
Another member said she has had to return to work from retirement to continue to provide for her 12-year-old grandson. She has cared for her grandson "on and off" since he was born and did qualify for payments for three years, however, he is no longer considered to be at "significant risk".
"[His] Mum is doing a lot better now and I'm proud of her," she said. "But mum's leaving him in my care. He's stable here and he's got schooling here.
"I can't go anywhere without him, at 12 years old he'll break down and cry. We'd love to see psychologists and things like that but we can't afford it."
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