Opening your home to a teenager through foster care or adoption can be both rewarding and transformative. Teens need the same things all young people need: caring adults, a sense of belonging, supportive relationships, guidance, and opportunities to grow. While many adolescents have experienced trauma, loss, disrupted relationships, or multiple placements, they also bring unique strengths, interests, resilience, and the ability to form meaningful lifelong connections. The resources below provide information, practical strategies, and support for caregivers navigating topics such as communication, trust-building, trauma-informed parenting, identity development, mental health, permanency, and preparing youth for successful adulthood. Whether you are considering fostering or adopting a teenager, are currently caring for one, or are supporting youth-serving families, these resources can help strengthen relationships and promote positive outcomes for teens and their families.
Remember: It's never too late for a young person to gain the security, encouragement, and lifelong connections that a caring family can provide.
Provides information about the unique needs of teens in foster care, addresses common myths about adopting older youth, explains available supports and financial assistance, and shares stories from families who have adopted teenagers. Particularly helpful for prospective foster and adoptive parents considering older youth.
A practical guide that helps parents understand adolescent development through an adoption lens. Topics include trauma, loss, identity development, communication strategies, behavioral concerns, mental health, and fostering independence.
A national network supporting youth in foster care and the adults who care for them. FosterClub offers caregiver training, youth-centered resources, educational materials, transition planning tools, and information on supporting teens as they prepare for adulthood.
Provides information about housing, education, healthcare, employment, life skills, financial resources, and youth rights. Caregivers can use these tools to help teenagers navigate adolescence and prepare for adulthood.
Offers adoption-competent mental health resources, webinars, articles, and support services for adoptive families. Resources address identity development, grief and loss, trauma, school success, relationships, and emotional wellness for adopted youth and teens.
Explores issues unique to adopted adolescents, including identity formation, independence, birth family relationships, communication challenges, and emotional well-being. Provides guidance for navigating the teenage years while maintaining strong family connections.
A comprehensive federal resource offering publications, training materials, research, and guidance related to foster care, adoption, trauma-informed parenting, permanency, youth development, and family support.
Provides research, policy recommendations, and best practices for supporting youth as they transition from foster care to adulthood. Topics include permanency, education, employment, housing, and lifelong connections.
Examines outcomes for teens and young adults in foster care and highlights the importance of permanent relationships, supportive adults, education, employment opportunities, and community connections for successful transitions to adulthood.
Offers articles, videos, tip sheets, and training on trauma-informed parenting, connecting with older youth, preparing for adoption, supporting sibling relationships, and building family bonds with teenagers.
Cuyahoga County's Just in Time Training is a web based service program designed to connect foster parents, kinship or other caregivers with training, peer experts and other resources. Questions are answered and practical solutions to care for children are discussed - all from the comfort of your home or office.
If you have difficulty accessing any material on this site, please contact us in writing and we will work with you to make the information available. You can direct your request to JITSupport@USF.edu.