If you had to choose a song to sum up Darren Mitchell’s working life it would be Driving Wheels, Jimmy Barnes’ iconic ode to those on the road.

Mr Mitchell is the Western Region Foster Care recruitment officer and on average he travels around 300km a week to find carers for children and young people in need.

“We cover a region the size of England,” said Mr Mitchell, who is no stranger to life on the road. In his previous jobs as a mental health caseworker and a registered wool classer he traversed most of western NSW and QLD.
“I’ve been on a bit of a journey and come a long way from cowboy boots and a big hat,” laughed Mr Mitchell whose program has 60 carers on the books across Deniliquin, Griffith and Broken Hill.

“When you can get carers across the line, it’s life changing,” said Mr Mitchell. “It is extremely rewarding to successfully sign up a carer who will help make a difference to the life of one of the thousands of children in need.”
Australian government statistics show that in 2014 there were more than 40,000 children and young people in care across the nation, almost half are from NSW.

“There are around 18,000 children in the foster care system in NSW,” said Mr Mitchell.
“You see those children lost in the ether, who haven’t had that support and when you find them a full-time carer it’s pretty powerful. What a lot of people don’t know is sometimes there are foster children placed in crisis care like motels because there is no other option. As you can imagine, finding people who want to help neglected and abused children is an experience hard to describe. As our organisation says they are everyday people doing amazing things.
“You don’t mind going that extra yard, or kilometre in this case, when you know in your heart that you have helped provide a safe and secure home. It is a wonderful experience, being able to change people’s lives, especially children. It inspires you to work hard at what you do.”

It is that inspiration that also drives Mr Mitchell’s Western region counterpart Sylvie Munson.
Mrs Munson is the Family Choices caseworker for Western Region and works intensively with children with disabilities and their families to “make their lives better”. The Family Choices program provides home support, respite care or short and long-term care for families across the western region.

Mrs Munson said the program works collaboratively with families and a wide range of support networks such as psychologists, educators, speech pathologists and caseworkers.
“Birth families make all of the normal parental decisions and are involved in the process of choosing options that best fits their child’s needs or assisting their adult children make the best choices. It gives families the opportunity to rest and recover,” said Mrs Munson.

Working across Western NSW means Mrs Munson covers an even greater area than Mr Mitchell. So much so that Mrs Munson’s manager, and travelling counterpart Tracy Mayo, jokingly offered to buy her a Winnebago.
“I don’t like travelling but I absolutely love doing this job, I love helping these children,” said Mrs Munson. “It’s a really exciting program to be a part of.”
When Mrs Munson took on her role as Western region Family Choices caseworker three years ago she never could have imagined how inspirational the families and children she worked with would be.
But it is this passion, and the inspiring families she works with, that keep her on the road. She gives an example of a young boy who wasn’t attending school and wasn’t able to manage any form of self-care.
“When I met this boy he was in crisis, his family was in crisis, his carer was in crisis. They couldn’t even get him in the car to get to school,” said Mrs Munson.

Now, three years later, after some intense casework with the family, clinicians, carers and educators the young man is regularly attending school, going to the gym and joining social groups.
“He is on the path to getting a job,” said Mrs Munson proudly. “Now he is travelling on the bus to school independently and it’s over an hour trip each way. He wasn’t engaged and doing anything for himself before, now he is doing everything for himself. It’s all about finding the right clinicians, the right carer, the right support networks.”

What some might see as the smallest of wins are actually huge hurdles for those supported by the Family Choices program. But every gain is celebrated by Mrs Munson and the families she helps.
“One family was told their child would never be able to verbalise,” said Mrs Munson. “This child was so frustrated because he couldn’t talk and his family was in tears each day because their son’s needs weren’t being met.
“Now he’s in speech pathology each week thanks to Family Choices and he’s saying three words. They can build on that and one day this child will be able to communicate. He was so frustrated because he couldn’t talk and it was inconceivable for his family. But now it’s awesome.”

“I love making a difference in these people’s lives, they deserve it, they do it so tough. Our main focus is the child but it’s also about respecting the families and supporting everyone’s needs.”
If you would like more information about CareSouth’s Family Choices program or you are interested in becoming a CareSouth carer please contact (03) 5881 8360 or visit the CareSouth website www.caresouth.org.au