Foster Families Needed to Make a Difference for Teens

During National Foster Care Month, Child Welfare Nonprofit SAFY's "Foster Me" Campaign is raising awareness about the needs for caring adults to support teens experiencing foster care

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- May is National Foster Care Month, and child welfare nonprofit Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth (SAFY) is announcing the Foster Me - Developing Dreams for Flourishing Futures campaign to raise awareness about the need for foster parents to open their homes to teens experiencing foster care.

"Nationwide, there are more than 150,000 teenagers experiencing foster care in the United States, each with unique needs for parental support, love, and guidance," said William Matt, CEO of SAFY. "What we have learned in our nearly 40 years of working with teens experiencing foster care, is the more we support them and give them the right tools to overcome the trauma they've endured, the better they are able to thrive in the face of adversity. At SAFY, we are working to spread the word that teens need families. We hope that through our efforts, all teens experiencing foster care can receive the family they need to care for them and believe in them."

The statistics showing the difference that a caring adult can make in the life of a teen experiencing foster care are staggering. When a teen has a nurturing family or a caring adult in their life:

• They are more likely to complete high school and enroll in college
• They decrease their odds of experiencing poverty
• They are less likely to become pregnant, be arrested, or convicted of a crime as a teenager

"As a former teen experiencing foster care myself, I know firsthand the difference caring adults made in my life," said Kanisha West-Thomas, a former SAFY youth who was placed with a foster family and eventually adopted as a teen. "My mother and father have been a tremendous support system and I wouldn't be the adult I am today, headed for law school, if it were not for them."

SAFY is actively recruiting foster families to open their homes to teens in all the nonprofit operating states – Colorado, Kentucky, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, and South Carolina. To learn more, visit safy.org/foster-me.

About SAFY.  Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth (SAFY) of America is a national nonprofit organization creating healthy youth and families through community-based solutions. Building upon our reputation as a leader in treatment foster care services, our comprehensive home- and community-based programs serve those with social service and behavioral health needs in seven states including Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Ohio, and South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.SAFY.org.

SOURCE Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth