Therapeutic foster care serves a very special and unique demographic of children and teens who can greatly benefit from the specialized treatment and support their new and nurturing foster homes provide.
It takes a special kind of person or family to foster a child—we are honored to work with these highly esteemed individuals. The overarching truth is that therapeutic foster care comes with challenges and difficult days. But between those challenging days are many moments of shaping young lives to help give them voice and empowerment to forge a promising future that was not within their grasp before foster care.
How Do Children or Teens Qualify For Therapeutic Foster Care?
There are a large number of reasons a child or teen may need therapeutic foster care, and every story and background differs, but commonly, a child or teen in therapeutic foster care has experienced one or more of the following.
- Neglect
- Abuse
- Traumatic experience
Additionally therapeutic foster care can be beneficial for children and teens who have health needs such as:
Mental or Emotional health concerns
- Behavioral issues
- Physical disabilities
- Extra medical care required
What is the Role of a Therapeutic Foster Parent?
As a therapeutic foster parent it will be your role to provide a higher level of care for a child or teen that may have physical, mental, educational, or behavioral challenges that need the dedicated guardianship of an adult who is equipped and willing to help the child surmount the challenges and thrive.
It will be your role to provide a safe and stable environment—a gift to a child who has never known the strength of protection and reliability. It will also be your role to be the mentor who nurtures trust and models positive living–allowing the child to experience, perhaps for the first time, the greatness of a meaningful relationship.
As a therapeutic foster parent you will have many unnamed roles that accumulate to building a foundation of hope and healing that will pave the way for a child to thrive and launch with the promise of possibility.
If becoming a foster parent is something that interests you, you will want to reach out to a foster care agency. Benchmark Family Services is a Private Foster Care agency specializing in therapeutic foster care in Indiana and Kentucky.