Teen in Wisconsin Foster Care Struggles to Find a Home

David has been in and out of Wisconsin foster care for five years. He is 14 years old. He is currently placed with a cousin struggling to meet his needs. Here is a bit of David's story:

Wisconsin foster parents need a flexible schedule

David, a 14-year-old boy, needs a foster home with at least one parent available or a parent with a highly flexible schedule. His journey has been challenging, having been diagnosed with depression, ODD, and ADHD. While he is not currently on medication, he is open to an assessment, believing it could be beneficial and help him with his emotions.

For David, a foster home with younger children and pets, particularly dogs, would be ideal. He enjoys the company of younger children and finds pets to be naturally calming. A home with these elements would provide a supportive environment for him.

Siblings in foster care are often separated.

David has two sisters who live with their grandmother in. The siblings have phone contact. Next month, there is a planned visit with grandma and sisters. He is excited for the visit and hopes it is not cancelled.

Several months ago, he was moved to live with his cousin for the second time. She is requesting the teen be transferred to a licensed foster home. The cousin is a single woman, working full-time. She is struggling with David's disrespect and unwillingness to follow the rules, which she attributes to their closeness in age. Although he has done well overall, the cousin is unable to provide the proper parenting and supervision that David needs.

Foster kids often struggle in school.

Schoolwork has been a struggle for years. David is in 9th grade and has an IEP. His cousin reports that David wants to attend school and often tries to do the required homework but needs assistance to complete assignments on time.

David has attended multiple schools in the last several years, making it difficult to make friends or build relationships. He likes to give the impression that he is "tough". In addition, the boy has a history of not taking responsibility for his behaviors. Instead, he will deny his involvement and blame others for his behavior.

More Wisconsin foster parents are needed for kids with trauma histories

David's story is not unique. Witness to unhealthy relationships, alcohol abuse, lack of proper schooling, separation from his siblings, and an incarcerated parent all create trauma, which means David presents emotions and behaviors that require consistent parenting, patience, and time to build trusting relationships.

Kids like David can thrive when a foster family can provide stability and structure! We've seen it hundreds of times with our CCR foster families. They begin to heal when the constant moving from home to home stops.

CCR is desperate for more families to become foster parents for kids like David. Learn how to become a foster parent in Wisconsin by calling us today.

*We did not have a foster home available for David, so the referring county continued their search for a home in the right location to meet his needs.

All identifying information are altered to protect the privacy of children.

Teens in Wisconsin Foster Care Feeling Unwanted

Jake is among the dozens of Wisconsin Foster Care teenagers referred to us monthly. He has been in a Wisconsin residential facility for 7 months and is eager to move in with a loving foster family. Jake needs a well-structured environment with adult supervision, consistent expectations, and fair rewards and consequences.

Teens in Wisconsin foster care struggle to find homes.

Finding a flexible foster home for a teenager like Jake is a challenge. This is partly because many foster parents are afraid of teens and thus wish to help younger children. Also, it can be difficult for working foster parents to provide the necessary supervision and attend appointments. Jake has therapy sessions twice a week, which are essential for his progress and transition back to a family environment. Individual and family therapy will help support his development and adjustment.

Wisconsin teens often feel unwanted and out of place.

Jake desperately needs emotional nourishment and support to feel valued and secure. He has endured significant trauma due to his abusive family background, having been exposed to drug use, domestic violence, and physical abuse. He felt adrift amidst the turmoil of his home life and the previous foster homes he lived in before the group home failed to provide the stable environment he needed.

Jake hopes to connect with a friendly couple or single foster parent who won't give up on him. He feels that people judge him quickly because he is an older teen in foster care. Living in a group home has taught him a lot, but he admits that he still needs to work on healthy relationships, managing his anger, and making better decisions.

Jake is eager to acquire new skills that will help him become independent and care for himself once he leaves foster care. He is fearful that he will fail once out of foster care.

Jake will need the following from a foster family:

Monitoring of medication by a psychiatrist
Supervision around children under age 12 or vulnerable individuals
Participation in positive community activities to foster healthy social relationships
Individual bedroom accommodations
Working towards high school graduation
Involvement in family therapy with his biological family
Ongoing support to learn skills for independent living

Foster kids often visit with biological family

During visits with his family, Jake quickly becomes annoyed and verbally aggressive. When his older brother intervenes, he can become physically aggressive. Family therapy seems to be helping Jake with his anger and aggression towards family members. His parents struggle with mental health and drug use. Jake reports that his family home was chaotic and overwhelming. Consequently, he would like a foster home that is laid back yet has some structure.

Above all, he hopes to have foster parents who are calm and don't yell too much. He feels that nobody listens to him or cares what he thinks.

Teens in Wisconsin foster care want a chance to succeed.

Jake is polite, helpful, and considerate of others. He doesn't mind helping with household chores and is eager to learn new things. He acknowledges that he struggles with managing his anger and is open to trying new methods to control it. He enjoys being around family pets and assures his new foster parents that they can count on him to be kind to their animals. Jake wants his new family to give him a chance to prove that he is changing and making progress.

With structure, patience, and a calm home environment, Jake has enormous potential to heal from his trauma. He is currently receiving mental health services and will need the support of his foster parents to stay on a path of growth and healing.

Youth like Jake are referred to CCR daily. Unfortunately, CCR did not have a foster home in the right location to accommodate Jake.

Regardless of the county you live in, we encourage you to consider fostering older children. We desperately need homes in all corners of the state. Please contact us to explore how to become a foster parent.

* To protect the identity of all children, real names are never used in any CCR blogs or social media posts.