Advice to Caseworkers from Youth

We asked young people in foster care to offer advice to caseworkers. This is what they said.

How to Have A Positive Relationship with Young People in Foster Care

• Get to know us as a person. 
• Find out what we like. 
• Know us as a person and not just what you see on court papers.
• Always treat us as a real person with feelings and emotions and not as another case.

Show us you care

• Make us feel important – know our names. 
• See us more than once a month. 
• Never treat us in a way that we feel that you don’t care because we will only model that behavior and the relationship will be lost.

Communicate with us

• Return our calls.
• Listen, listen, listen, listen more.
• Answer our questions.

Be professional

• Be consistent in time and effort. 
• Focus on helping us, not being our friend. Be on time and do your job on time.
• Follow through on your responsibilities.

Be honest and reliable

• Don’t hide information from us and don’t sugarcoat situations. 
• Don’t make promises you do not plan on keeping.
• Be the one person we can trust to tell the truth, be willing to talk to and be completely open with.

Help us to be our best

• Encourage us to keep moving forward in life.
• Motivate us and give us hope that we can make it coming out of something like foster care.
• Don’t give up on us – “stay in the fight.”
• Give us dreams.  Respect us.  Reward us. Support us.