Utah Foster Care is hosting a Teen Forum for individuals/families looking to become a foster family to teens on Monday, January 13 at 6:00 pm at their office located at 475 West Price River Drive Suite #152. This forum is a great opportunity for guests who have considered to foster to speak with local foster parents about the rewards and challenges of caring for children they have fostered in their homes.
“We do want to let people know that we do need families in our area to care for teenage kids. That we have kids come in that are teenagers and need that support and help and guidance while their parents are doing some things to get their situation better and so that is a little bit different, caring for a teen is different than caring for a younger child,” said Lead Foster Adoptive Consultant, Kobi Prettyman. “We want to let people know that it’s not scary. Different doesn’t mean bad and I think people shy away from teens because they think, oh boy what problems do teens have and so we want to dispel some of those myths about what those teens in foster care are like.” The impact that foster parents can make even in a short time amount of time can be huge for teens by offering them stability and structure. The overall experience can be rewarding for all parties involved.
Layne Miller and his wife began fostering 20 plus years ago for a family friend. The situation at the time was going to be a one-time deal for the Millers but it has now turned into many more years of opening their home to teen boys. “We’ll we’ve just been going on since then and I think part of the reason is because when I look around if we don’t do it, who’s going to? That’s when we decided to do something where we focused on teens because teens bring their own issues but they also bring their own rewards,” said Miller. The Millers will be on hand at the forum to share their experience and answer any questions individuals/families may have about foster care.
The Utah Foster Care office in Price serves the communities in Carbon, Emery, Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah, Grand and San Juan counties. The need for foster parents in these areas is great to help, heal and enrich the lives of abused or neglected children. For more information visit the Utah Foster Care website at https://utahfostercare.org/become-a-foster-parent/