Fostering Teens // From the Perspective of a Former Foster Teen/Youth Turned Foster Mom (audio fix)
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Why is fostering teens so scary to so many people?! Let's chat! I'll share my perspective about being a former foster teen (former foster youth) myself who is now a foster and adoptive mom to teenagers. (audio redo, repost)
Not speaking for myself, but I assume since teenagers are already “scary😆”, adding in one that isn’t your own who might have serious trauma behaviours on top of normal teen behaviours maybe put people off? We will be accepting teen placements once our own kids are through their teen years!❤❤
Hi Lauren. Thank you for informative videos! We are a military family who recently started fostering two teenage girls. We are hoping to adopt and we’re wondering how did your adoptive kiddos handle being adopted and moving to a new state? Thanks again for all that you do to bring awareness to fostering, adoption, and the military community!
That's so great!
Being adopted was bittersweet for my older adopted kids. They grieved the loss, felt relief that the case was moving towards something permanent and were excited all at the same time. All of those feelings were similar with moving.
I’m so glad to have found this! I will be able to share it with others learning and thinking about fostering. Thank you!
And the end😂
You are so welcome!
Hi lauren, we are also a military family who recently took in a teen year old girl we actually found while she was a runaway from her group home. We adore her, but since we went through the process an atypical way we have gotten virtually no support or training despite her being placed with us (and pregnant). We also are having a really hard time finding a community to get involved with since we have no agency on our side to guide us (i ask the childs agency dozens of questions near daily and its rare I ever get an answer). All the support groups seem to be over an hour away and meet super infrequently. We're trying so hard to do what is best for her and I spend hours watching videos like yours and researching trauma informed parenting but it's hard to find help that applies to our situation. Shes an amazing kid who deserves so much better than the hand she's been dealt. Do you have any advice for finding help when no one seems to know what to do with you? This may be too niche but at this point I'm trying everything I can. Thank you for your videos.
Oh man, I'm so sorry there's nothing local. That's SO hard. That's why I originally created this channel... because I knew that there were other people like you out there that just don't have the support (It was around when COVID was big and a lot of things were shut down). A couple things I would suggest...
Look and see if there's Facebook pages for any local groups around you so that at least if you're not meeting you guys could be asking questions on there. There may be some national groups as well that are specific to fostering pregnant teens and so on.
I know it sounds daunting but potentially consider creating your own facebook page for some local people? You'd be surprised how niche some of these groups can get ("fostering teens in _____ county"). Even if only a couple people join the group, you'd still have each other.
If worse comes to worse, you're always welcome to message me via Instagram. I don't know how much help I would be answering questions if it was regarding any kind of local laws or rules, but I'm definitely here to let you know that you are absolutely not alone.
Also, I'm not sure what kind of training you have taken as far as trauma training goes but definitely look into TBRI (empowered to connect, TBRI, Dr. Karen Purvis, hope for the journey...etc). There are tons of videos online and resources. If you can go to a conference I would do it (there are even simulcast versions). Right now the 2023 videos are on the hope for the journey website for sale and honestly it would be worth it. I went to a simulcast this year and I'm still going to purchase a couple because they were so good.
You may even have a TBRI practitioner close to you that may be able to help by coming to your home and giving some tips and tricks (never done this personally so I'm not totally sure what the process is).
Lastly, never underestimate the power of therapy. A good therapist will not only help your child navigate with their navigating through but also give you support as a parent with practical tips on what to do at home so everyone's on the same page.
Hugs mama...you're doing great ❤️
@Lauren Fosters thank you, all my "training" has been self studying what I can find on my own, so I'll definitely check out the TBRI and the conferences. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question, one day at a time :)
Hi Lauren. Is there any way to contact you? I am a producer for a small TV show and I am looking to do an interview (via zoom) with an adult who aged out of foster care. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks so much!
Yes! Laurenfosters@gmail.com ☺️