10 Good Reasons to Foster Teenagers

Welcoming teens in foster care into your home is not easy. Many people hesitate to foster teenagers because they believe it will be too hard. Teens in foster care are looking for what every child needs - a place to belong. They need the strength available through a safe, healthy foster or adoptive family to heal and thrive.

Here are 10 reasons to choose to welcome teens into your home.

1. Your care -- regardless of how long they are in your home -- will impact them permanently.

2. You may be able to make a hard time in their life a little easier.

3. You may be able to show them what a safe and stable family looks like.

4. You may be able to teach them how to be resilient when they get scared.

5. You may be able to show them what it feels like to truly belong.

6. You may be the only person they will ever be able to deeply trust.

7. You may be able to teach them how to love others in a healthy way.

8. You may be able to make sure they don't have to handle big decisions and moments alone.

9. You may finally be their last stop in foster care and keep them from the trauma of institutional care or aging out.

10. You can show them that someone will love and encourage them for being who they are uniquely supposed to be!

If you have grown children you are uniquely qualified to help a teenager in foster care find the confidence they need to develop life skills and prepare for adulthood. Your experience is an invaluable gift you can share. You can love them and be there during one of life's most challenging seasons.

Contact your local DSS or an agency in your community about becoming a foster, kinship, or adoptive parent. If you need a referral email us at connect@vakidsbelong.org.