#31 Truth First: Caring Beyond The System, with Louise Allen

Send us Fan MailSome conversations burn slowly and then glow for days. Sitting down with Louise Allen, we trace a line from a childhood rewritten by others to a life spent restoring names, dignity, and futures. Louise grew up in care, became a long‑term foster carer, and now writes bestsellers that refuse to look away. She talks candidly about forced adoption, the quiet children who go unseen, and the neighbour who saved her by offering what the system couldn’t: warmth without conditions and a place to just be a kid.We get practical, not theoretical. Louise shows how to keep a child’s dignity intact in a world of notes and meetings: put their photo on the table, say the answer instead of asking the painful question again, and write logs to the child because they will read them. We explore why dogs often do what adults can’t, acting as co‑regulators and night watch when self‑harm risks rise. And we challenge the culture of “minimum standards,” arguing for training, support, and respect that match the complexity of foster care. Warm welcomes, eye contact, a kitchen that smells like biscuits—these are not small things. They are the work.Louise also opens the door to Spark Sisterhood, the charity she founded after visiting girls who’d fallen off the cliff edge of care. We unpack how inconsistent allowances, isolation, and learned dependencies collide at 18, and how Spark’s Care‑to‑Career program builds life skills, confidence, and pathways into real jobs in construction, engineering, and tech. It’s a blueprint for post‑care support that trades pity for agency and short‑term fixes for paid futures. Along the way, we touch on her Thrown Away Children books, the power of telling the truth with humour, and the new Foster Care Uncovered podcast she co‑hosts with Sarah Anderson.If you care about children’s mental health, foster care, trauma‑informed practice, or the transition from care to independence, this one will stay with you. Listen, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more people find these stories—and the hope inside them.Louise’s Bio:Louise is the award-winning author behind the bestselling Thrown Away Children series. Her stories draw from the lived experiences of being part of a foster family. Her brand-new series, Slave Girls, continues her mission to share the real, often unheard stories of children and young people—with courage, honesty, and hope. Through Spark Sisterhood, Louise is building a community where girls from care are met with friendship and essential life and employment skills, and where they are encouraged to believe in themselves and their futures. One of the charity’s most exciting projects is Care to Career, a two-week programme that offers girls jobs, apprenticeships and work experience by working with employers. The programme supports young women aged 18–25. It’s about more than just finding a job, which they do, it’s about creating space for young women to thrive.  Having grown up in care and now fostering children herself, Louise understands the care system from the inside out; she has a unique 360˚ understanding. She is a respected and leading voice. Links:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheSecureStartPodcastPodcast Blog Site: https://thesecurestartpodcast.com/Secure Start Site: https://securestart.com.au/\DisclaimerInformation reported by guests of this podcast is assumed to be accurate as stated. Podcast owner Colby Pearce is not responsible for any error of facts presented by podcast guests. In addition, unless otherwise specified, opinions expressed by guests of this podcast may not reflect those of the podcast owner, Colby Pearce.Support the show