"And of course, to be loving and caring."

Tara Dunbar has been a foster carer for seven years. She previously worked in early childhood care and has a background in child development.

"I saw lots of kids coming through that needed that extra bit of support and we [Tara and her husband] could offer that support."

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Sunday, September 11, marked the start of Foster Care Week, an annual celebration which acknowledges the work done by foster carers across NSW.

CareSouth, a local non-profit organisation based in Goulburn, celebrated Foster Care Week with a coffee cup campaign to not only highlight the selfless role of foster carers but to also encourage more people to consider fostering.

More than 350 carer families are needed across NSW.

Ms Dunbar said over the past several years she had done long-term, short-term, respite and restorative care.

Respite care is used for children who need a secure home for a short period, sometimes even just a night. Restorative care is used to transition children before they return to their birth parents.

Ms Dunbar's first experience as a foster carer was providing restorative care for two baby boys, three and nine months old.

After nine months of caring for the boys, Ms Dunbar said it was hard to say goodbye when they returned to their birth mother.

"But I always say to people if they weren't attached to us and we weren't attached to them then we weren't doing our job," she said.

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Foster care doesn't have the same level of privacy as regular parenting, Ms Dunbar said you had to be prepared to have your door wide open.

"It's a team effort, there are so many people involved," she said.

"With foster care, everything in your life changes."

Foster carers receive regular training to help adapt to that change and learn how to support children with trauma. CareSouth also provides their carers 24/7 on-call support and regular chances to meet up with other foster carers.

Ms Dunbar said it was important to build connections with other foster carers to discuss issues that other parents might not relate to.

She set up a support group which meets at Poppy's Cafe at Goulburn Soldier's Club on the first Monday of each month.

"It's challenging, but getting to help and support a child grow into who they are meant to be is extremely rewarding."

Ms Dunbar and her husband are now fostering three children long-term, two of which are biological siblings. She has become their primary carer, studying psychology at university on the side while her husband works full-time.

"They all see each other as brothers and sisters," Ms Dunbar said.

They travel as a family too, occasionally taking a campervan down to Victoria where Ms Dunbar's family live.

Ms Dunbar said you had to plan in advance, but you could travel with foster children.

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All three of her children still have regular visits with their biological parents, most foster children do.

"The parents are still heavily involved so the children know where they come from, and if they have questions when they get older, they know who to ask," she said.

Long-term fostering lasts until a child turns 18 but Ms Dunbar said "we don't look at it as finishing at 18, they're always a part of the family".

One of the things most important to Ms Dunbar, when it came to child development, was treating children at the level they were at.

"Not by their age, but by where they are at in that moment," she said.

"We've had difficult cases and it's not been easy, but you just need to reach out for support and it's so worthwhile."

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