What Makes Fostering a Teenager Incredibly Rewarding

Teens in care

Imagine; you’re in your teenage years and due to circumstances out of your control, you are unable to live with your family. You can’t go home— perhaps you don’t want to. You’re being moved away from your friends and family and have been told that you will be moving into a stranger’s home. Wouldn’t the world feel like a scary, lonely place?

Thousands of children have found themselves in this difficult position. Thankfully, there are wonderful foster parents up and down the UK who foster teenagers, welcoming them into their homes and lives. All foster parents start as strangers but are soon able to become the pillar of support which a young person comes to rely on as their house becomes the young person’s home, filled with the love, care and protection which every child deserves.

Breaking the stigma

There are several myths surrounding teenagers who are in foster care or children’s homes. Some people assume that teenagers are in care due to poor or anti-social behaviour which their parents have been unable to manage. This is not the truth.

The truth is that children come into care for a variety of reasons, none of which they are to blame for. The death of a parent or caregiver can mean that some children come into care, while others have come from a home which was neglectful or abusive. Many care-experienced teenagers will have been in the foster care system since they were little, may will have experienced complex trauma which they need help and guidance to process and ultimatley heal from.

Protecting vulnerable children of every age

It is important for everyone to recognise that teenagers are still children and are in many ways just as vulnerable as younger children. Teens are especially vulnerable to exploitation by gangs, trafficking and sexual exploitation, with one study finding that ‘compared to younger children, teenagers in care are six times more likely to be victims of sexual exploitation,’ and another finding that an estimated 30,000 - 50,000 children in the UK have been lured into involvement with gangs.

The adultification of vulnerable children is dangerous, and particularly impacts children from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Treating vulnerable children as though they are adults robs them of their childhood and can lead to failings in protect them from dangers.

It’s vital that looked after young people are provided with a loving, protective environment to help shield them from exploitation. Teenagers in foster care need and deserve compassionate care and protection just as much as any other child.

Could you foster a teenager?

There’s a real need for more foster parents who are eager to welcome teenagers into their home. You don’t need experience of looking after a teen and you can become a foster parent even if you’ve had no experience in looking after children before.

If you choose to change a life by welcoming a young person into your home, you’ll soon begin reaping the rewards. Read on to discover some amazing reasons why you should consider fostering a teenager.

5 reasons to consider fostering a teenager

Be there for kids most in need of safe and loving homes

There is a shortage of foster parents who are open to providing a home for older children. This means that many older children in need of a home are moved into shared children’s homes or supported accommodation, which can lack the benefit of a family environment and 1-1 care due to rotating staff and more children to care for. Due to a lack of available foster homes, older children are also regularly separated from their siblings, which can be incredibly distressing.

Older kids in foster care have often been through a variety of moves and disruptions. You could provide a child with the invaluable gift of stability. They may never before have experienced a safe home with a parental figure who has their best interests as their top priority. Your love, care and nurturing home environment could provide them with the tools they need to heal, improving their prospects as they take their crucial first steps towards young adulthood.

Support young people at a pivotal time

Our teenage years are formative, and can have an enormous impact on our overall life. All teenagers experience a range of turbulences and difficulties in these pivotal years, whether it be to do with hormones, body image, schooling, or friends. Children who are care experienced often have a lot more to deal with on top of these usual challenges due to their circumstances.

As a therapeutically trained foster parent, you’ll have the opportunity to help guide a teen through this difficult period, teaching them about healthy relationships and being there as an adult they can trust. You can encourage them to achieve their best academically and help them to decide what they want to do with their future as they approach adulthood and age out of foster care. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a young person transform and succeed.

Fostering a teenager is a rare opportunity to make a real difference to a young person’s life prospects before they begin making their way into the adult world, which often lacks understanding of the experiences of care-experienced youth. You can be a pillar of support and guidance, showing them the way to a healthy, fulfilling life and a future which is all their own.

Support their independence

When you foster a teenager, you’ll more than likely benefit from having more freedom and flexibility than if you were to care for a younger child. Teens are able to stay on their own for short periods of time and often require less close supervision. They also value having alone time, autonomy and their own personal space. Most teens are fully able to take care of their personal care needs and are responsible enough to take care of their own daily routines, such as getting themselves to school or making themselves a snack.

Fostering a teen can also be great fun— teenagers tend to have a wicked sense of humour, and rather than the hours of kids cartoons you’d likely watch while looking after younger children, you and the teens you care for can form bonds over and enjoy age-appropriate shows, games and hobbies together. Their maturity will allow you to have a different style of relationship than the bonds you would form with a younger child, which can often make communication easier.

This ability won’t only be an asset during the fun times, but during harder times, too. It’s important to be honest and open with teens, acknowledging their level of maturity. Teenagers are also often better equipped to understand their situation better, and the logic behind why certain decisions about their care have been made, in a way that a younger child would be unable to understand. However, this doesn’t mean that these decisions will be any less upsetting or frustrating. By listening to and respecting their views, you can help them to build a deep, trusting bon with you.

The sudden freedom of turning eighteen and leaving care may excite some young people and may make others anxious about their future. Encouraging freedom and independence in a safe, nurturing environment can be hugely beneficial in shaping your teen into a self-sufficient young adult who’ll be ready to handle the new responsibility of caring for themselves, and in making the transition from a foster home to independent living much easier.

Build a lifelong connection

When you foster a child, you’ll treasure the memories of the time you shared with them. There’s no doubt they’ll remember you, too. Your relationship with the teenager you foster doesn’t have to change when they turn eighteen. You can choose to continue offering a young person a loving home and a place to stay through the Staying Put arrangement until they feel ready to move away from home.

Many care-experienced teenagers choose to keep in touch with their foster family, whether that’s the occasional text message to check in on how one another are doing, or whether it’s continuing to spend time together and sharing celebrations like Christmas or birthdays together. The bond you can build with a teenager is a beautiful thing, and it has the potential to last even when they become adults.

Our generous fostering allowance

As the foster parent of a teenager you will receive a generous fostering allowance to help you support the young person in your care. Alongside a generous fostering allowance, when you foster with us you’ll benefit from a wide range of support including a 24/7 helpline, local support groups, ongoing training opportunities and the option to take 14 days of paid respite per year. With the support of our dedicated team of childcare professionals, there will always be someone there to help you and the teens in your care with any challenges you may face.