DoCS' Metro South West regional director Anne Campbell said it is vital more carers are enlisted as the need for carers throughout the district continues to grow.

"We need as many carers as possible to help us look after children and young people in the area needing short, medium or long-term placements," Ms Campbell said.

"Currently we have more than 1400 children and young people in foster care or kinship placements in the Metro South West region, however, we have between 30 and 40 children in any given week needing either short or long-term placements. This could be from just 24-hours to several months for short-term placements or long-term care until a child or young person turns 18.

"We tend to have the most difficulty finding homes for older children aged 10 and upwards, including teenagers with complex issues and for sibling groups.

"Foster carers can be any age or gender, a single person or a couple, from any cultural background, they don't have to be well off or have a large home and can be living in a range of different situations.

"Our priority is to match kids with the right carers so the bigger the pool of carers we have, the better options we have available for each child's needs.

"While foster care is not always an easy task, it can also be an extremely rewarding and satisfying experience."

Local foster carers Sandra and Reg have cared for more than 100 children and young people over the past 25 years and a girl who was placed with them 14 years ago as a 12-year-old is still living with the family.

The couple's last placement was a 15-year-old boy who returned to his natural parents at Christmas last year making Sandra and Reg "so very proud of him".

"He was with us for four years and could have stayed until he was 18 but he was ready to go back home at Christmas," Sandra said.

Sandra said it was the "small things" that had mattered to children in their care over the years.

Small things like a kiss on the forehead when a child was falling asleep at night or Sandra screaming support from the sidelines when they competed at school carnivals with other children.