Top 5 Reasons to Be a Foster Family Caregiver With PLEA
If you are thinking about opening your home and heart to a youth needing a safe place to call home, you may be wondering which foster family program to join. Various social service agencies and non-profits offer the opportunity to be a youth caregiver, and each comes with its own pros and cons.
PLEA Community Services is a leading community services organization that believes every person matters and should have the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life. There are several great reasons why you should sign up to be a caregiver with PLEA. Here are the top five:
1. PLEA is a Stable and Experienced Foster Family Care Agency
PLEA has been serving the community for more than 40 years as a trusted foster family agency. When you commit to being a youth caregiver, you want to be sure the agency you are working with can support you over the long term. PLEA benefits from stable government contracts that fund much of our work, so you can rest assured that we aren’t going anywhere! We have a successful track record of working with youth thanks to our individualized approach and wrap around supports.
2. PLEA Specializes in Helping the Most Challenged Youth Find Great Foster Families
PLEA’s approach is quite different to the traditional foster care model. The youth we place in foster family care are kids who have typically not succeeded in other programs and may have moved around frequently. They are kids who are often viewed as high-risk, hard to reach, and difficult to engage.
Because of these challenges, we aim to provide youth with a much higher level of support and supervision than they would get in another program. We make sure they are matched with a caregiver whose strengths are best suited to them and that they receive tailored support to address their unique needs. We want to give them the best possible chance of thriving and building a happy outcome that is rewarding both for them and their host family.
3. PLEA’s Foster Family Caregivers Benefit from 24/7 Support and Extensive Training
When you are a PLEA foster parent, you are never alone. Each of our youth caregivers is assigned a service coordinator who will support them throughout their foster family experience. They will be there as a sounding board and advisor to help you address any challenges that arise along the way.
There is also a staff member on call 24/7 to help in the event of a crisis or emergency. Knowing there is always backup available gives our caregivers the confidence they need to create an environment conducive to success. Our caregivers are also encouraged to join the caregiver group that meets regularly for peer support and to share stories, tips, and ideas. You will have access to a network of 165 family caregivers and more than 230 staff who are all working together to help the youth in our programs succeed.
We want the best outcomes for those in our program. That’s why we empower our caregivers with the skills and knowledge they need to help our youth flourish. We encourage a trauma-informed lens and provide training on many topics, including de-escalation techniques, suicide prevention, naloxone administration, first aid, and more.
4. Receive Fair Compensation to Help You Succeed as a Foster Family Caregiver
Caregiving is a full-time job in which the needs of the youth living with you must always come first. PLEA foster family caregivers can earn between $4,800 to $10,000 per month depending on the number of kids in the home. These funds include coverage for respite care for when you need a break, would like to go on a vacation, attend training, or otherwise be away from your home. We work with you to prevent burnout and improve your ability to provide a stable home placement.
5. Fostering Youth in Need is Incredibly Rewarding
There are few ways to have a more direct and immediate positive effect on someone’s life than you will by giving a young person a safe home where they can feel comfortable to be themselves and be supported to grow.
No matter what your professional background or interest, we’re confident you’ll find being a foster family caregiver is a role that spans a variety of issues on which you can have a direct impact. Whether you’re intrigued by community living systems, mental health, justice, addictions, child welfare, and everything in between, chances are you’ll find the foster parent experience to be as rewarding as it is challenging.
How to Become a Youth Caregiver
After reading this, perhaps you’d like to learn more about becoming a foster caregiver so you can give a fresh start to a youth in need. Contact us today to learn more about the requirements and discuss the next steps with one of our helpful team members.
