Fostering teenagers

Fostering teenagers

Teenagers are often overlooked in favour of younger children due to the perception that they are more difficult to manage.

They are often left without the key nurturing care and emotional support of a loving foster family during some of the most critical stages in their lives.

Fostering a teenager can be a hugely rewarding role and you can have a very positive impact on a young person’s life. You’ll be helping to shape the future of a vulnerable young person in need of safety, stability security and ultimately a family.

It’s even more rewarding for them to be part of a loving family, receiving your guidance and support.

When you foster a teenager, you can guide and support their:

• educational attainment to help them achieve their potential
• independence and life skills and prompt them with all elements of self-care
• communication skills to help them learn ways to communicate their feelings to you and understand and appreciate when you communicate your feelings to them
• hobbies and interests to help them focus on positive activities which are good for their self-esteem
• social skills to help them to navigate friendships and social networks which can be challenging during teenage years

Guidance and support

Older children and teenagers benefit from guidance and support as they navigate the challenges they face and make crucial life decisions.

By fostering a teenager, you can provide them with the emotional support they need to help them organise their lives and assist them in building healthy relationships with friends and family.

Positive influence

Being part of a loving, nurturing family environment can significantly impact a young person’s life and help them to achieve positive outcomes. Being offered a consistent routine, structure, nurturing care and developing trust with care givers can shape their future positively.

Skills developm​ent

Fostering teenagers allows you to teach life skills, encourage independence and prepare them for adulthood. Your influence can last a lifetime and have a significant lasting impact on their mindset, self-belief and ambition.

Who can foster teenagers

To foster teenagers you must:

• be aged 21 or over
• have a spare bedroom
• have the legal right to live and work in Jersey
• have the time and emotional availability to care for a teenager

You can foster regardless of your race, religion, sexual identity or gender identity and it doesn’t matter if you:

• are married or single
• own your home or rent
• have experience in childcare 

We’ll give you all the support and training you need. However, it helps to have an open mind, energy and a desire to provide love and guidance.

You’ll also need:

• good communication skills
• resilience
• patience
• commitment
• nurturing skills
• reliability
• trustworthiness
• ​to be committed to guiding and supporting the young person through adolescence

Teenagers are more likely to push boundaries but if you’re consistent you’ll build trust and they’ll learn from your guidance and support.​

Why you should give teenagers a chance

Teenage years can be tough and often create feelings of insecurity and loneliness, with teenagers finding communication and relationships challenging.

For a teenager in foster care, these feelings can be heightened and they can be left feeling scared, alone and vulnerable.

When you look after a teenager, it can be transformative for you and them.

Fostering teenagers can be far less demanding than caring for younger children because they:

• are usually more independent
• tend to be at school full-time
• often have busy social lives with friendship groups
• have activities and revision for exams or homework

The main role for carers during this time, is providing a secure base and focusing their energy on helping young people to overcome hardships and steer them in the right direction using their life experience and nurturing guidance.

Foster carers can provide much needed stability, love and trust to help young people feel safe and secure, so they can thrive, flourish and mature into successful and confident adults. 

Your role as a foster carer

You’ll support teenagers in your care and: 

• inspire them to engage and achieve in education
• teach them important and essential life skills such as managing relationships and make money decisions
• help them to understand and manage their emotions, feelings and worries
• encourage them to enjoy positive social opportunities and activities they may not have had before
• support them to maintain crucial links with their birth family which helps promote their identity
• help them to grow in confidence and develop life skills to prepare them for adult-hood
• help them build healthy and safe boundaries within their relationships
• help them experience being part of a well-functioning, caring, attentive family home. This role modelling will help them as adults and parents themselves in the future
• help them to begin healing, cope with newfound pressures and make those all-important steps towards a bright, positive future