Family Spirit

What Family Spirit does

Family Spirit Ltd is a non-profit, accredited foster care, guardianship, and adoption agency headquartered in Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia. It was formed in 2018 as a partnership between CatholicCare Sydney and Marist180, two established Catholic community service organizations, and currently operates with approximately 33 employees across the greater Sydney metropolitan region and parts of regional NSW. Its core services include emergency, respite, short-term, long-term, kinship, and pre-adoptive foster care; adoption and post-adoption support; family preservation and mediation; and a dedicated leaving-care program for young people aged 15-25 transitioning out of out-of-home care.

The business model is government-funded under the NSW Department of Communities and Justice Permanency Support Program, with revenue derived from contracted out-of-home-care service delivery. Foster carers receive tax-free fortnightly allowances administered through the agency to cover children's day-to-day costs, and an educational partnership with Sydney Catholic Schools provides bursaries for foster children attending systemic Catholic schools. The go-to-market model is community-led and event-driven: prospective carers are recruited through online and in-person information sessions, community events such as the Foster and Kinship Care Week Picnic, social media, and direct phone enquiries, followed by assessment and training before approval.

The organization has no proprietary technology product; its platform is essentially its case-management workforce and its network of trained foster carers. Leadership is headed by CEO Sheree James (since at least early 2023) with General Manager Carley Power and a board drawn from the two founding partners. Family Spirit holds no patents, has not raised external funding, and has no disclosed M&A activity; growth has been organic through service-line expansion within its licensed NSW scope.

Name

Family Spirit

Legal name

Family Spirit Ltd

Website

https://familyspirit.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Family Spirit is a non-profit, NSW-accredited foster care, guardianship, and adoption agency formed in 2018 as a partnership between CatholicCare Sydney and Marist180, serving vulnerable children, young people, families, and foster carers across greater Sydney and regional NSW.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Foster Care and Adoption Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Welfare, Foster Care & Adoption Services (BPAGAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

Keywords

• Foster care services
• Out-of-home care
• Adoption services
• Family preservation
• Permanency support

Headquarters

HQ city

Bankstown, New South Wales

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government-Funded Services: Family Spirit operates as a government-funded agency under the NSW Department of Communities and Justice Permanency Support Program, providing foster care, adoption, and post-adoption services funded through government contracts.
2. Foster Carer Allowances: Foster carers receive tax-free fortnightly allowances to cover costs of caring for children, including food, clothing, education, transport, and leisure activities. These allowances are funded through the agency.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Family Spirit is a specialised foster care, guardianship, and adoption agency that recruits, trains, and supports foster carers to provide safe, stable, and nurturing homes for vulnerable children and young people across the greater Sydney metropolitan region. The agency delivers foster care placements (emergency, respite, short-term, long-term, kinship, and pre-adoptive), leaving care and after care services for young people aged 15–25, family preservation support, post-adoption services, and emergency crisis care placements under contract with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

Product overview

Family Spirit is a specialized foster care, guardianship, and adoption agency operating across the greater Sydney metropolitan region. The organization offers a unified suite of services centered around foster care, including Foster Care Services (with options for emergency, respite, short-term, long-term, kinship, and pre-adoptive care), combined with complementary support services such as Leaving Care & After Care for Young People (ages 15-25), Family Support (to preserve family units), Post Adoption Support Services, and Emergency & Crisis Care placements. These services work together to support children, young people, families, adoptive parents, and foster carers throughout the care journey from prevention through transition to independence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Foster Care Services Core foster care services providing safe, secure, and loving homes for children in need, including short-term, long-term, emergency, respite, kinship, and pre-adoptive care types for vulnerable children and young people in NSW.
• Leaving Care & After Care for Young People Youth services supporting young people aged 15-25 who are in out-of-home care or leaving care, helping them transition to independent living through practical programs, financial support, referrals, advocacy, and life skills training, with programs offering support for up to 12 months.
• Family Support Services aimed at preserving the family unit wherever possible, including parenting skills development and education, family mediation, budgeting advice, and practical support skills for families experiencing difficulties.
• Post Adoption Support Services Post adoption services including accessing records and information, search assistance for finding birth relatives, outreach and mediation support, and adoption-focused counselling for trauma, loss, and identity issues for individuals and couples who have adopted children through Family Spirit.
• Emergency & Crisis Care Immediate foster care placements for children in crisis situations requiring urgent safe homes, with fast-tracked application and training processes for new carers responding to urgent care needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Support for young people aged 15-25 in out-of-home care transitioning to independence
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• CatholicCare SydneycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCatholicCare Sydney is one of two founding partners that formed Family Spirit. As a Catholic community services organization, they contribute expertise in adoption services and support for families, with commitment expressed through their Reconciliation Action Plan.
• Marist180coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarist180 is one of two founding partners that formed Family Spirit. As a Catholic organization serving vulnerable children and young people, they bring expertise in out-of-home care and youth services to the partnership.
• NSW Department of Communities and JusticecoreOthersGovernment partner providing funding and regulatory oversight for foster care services under the Permanency Support Program. Agency operates as an accredited agency authorized to provide out-of-home care services.
• Sydney Catholic Schools (Archdiocese of Sydney)supportingOthersEducational partnership providing scholarship bursaries covering school fees for foster children attending systemic Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney, supporting both primary and secondary students.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Barnardos Australia: One of Australia's largest foster care and adoption agencies, accredited in NSW to deliver Permanency Support Program services. Shares Family Spirit's child welfare, foster care, and adoption mission across similar customer segments.
• OzChild: Australian non-profit providing foster care, kinship care, and intensive family services, with active operations in NSW. Comparable model of accredited foster care agency delivering government-funded programs.
• Life Without Barriers: National out-of-home care provider delivering foster care, residential care, and disability services across NSW and other states. A direct competitor for foster carer recruitment and PSP contracts in the same Sydney region.
• Anglicare Sydney: Faith-based non-profit delivering foster care, out-of-home care, and family support services across NSW. Competes with Family Spirit for carers, placement referrals, and government funding under the same PSP framework.
• Wesley Mission: Faith-based non-profit delivering foster care, youth services, and family support in Greater Sydney. Competes for the same foster carer pool and government contracts.
• Key Assets Australia: Non-profit foster care and family services provider with NSW operations, accredited to deliver government-funded out-of-home care. Comparable model of recruiting and supporting foster carers across the same population.
• Uniting (NSW): Large NSW-based non-profit providing foster care, kinship care, and Permanency Support Program services. Operates across the same Sydney metropolitan service area as Family Spirit.

Others

• Marist180 (Parent): One of Family Spirit's two founding partners, providing out-of-home care and youth services. As a parent entity, it shares overlapping foster care delivery and Catholic mission orientation.
• CatholicCare Sydney (Parent): Founding partner of Family Spirit, providing adoption, family support, and community services. Strong overlap in service offerings and shared Catholic mission, with some direct operational complementarity.
• ACWA (Association of Children's Welfare Agencies): Peak body representing non-government out-of-home care and child welfare agencies in NSW, including Family Spirit's peers. Relevant as an ecosystem/advocacy participant shaping the funding and regulatory environment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FamilySpiritNSW
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/family-spirit-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/familyspiritorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Family Spirit