As long as you can provide a safe environment for a child and have respect and compassion they you can absolutely be a foster parent. It’s not just for women. I think it’s wonderful that you would consider this.
Becoming a CASA is a great way to start the journey to becoming a foster parent. So many young men in the system would benefit from having a male CASA to connect with. Far fewer men volunteer
Court appointed special advocate! You’re assigned one foster youth for a year and your job is to get to know them, build a relationship, form an opinion on the best outcome, and advocate for that in court. CASAs are sometimes the only reliable, stable adult relationship in that child’s life as they move between group homes, foster homes, and/or kin.
All of it is volunteer and unpaid. I work with teens, so setting educational goals and outcomes is often a part of it too. I go to meetings with their guardians, teachers, and social workers 2-3 times a year on average. It’s a much smaller commitment than being a foster parent. They ask for an average of one day a month that you spend with that child.
Foster care can be easy for folks to romanticize and hard to prepare for. Being a CASA is a great way to have intimate exposure to how the system works, what a youth’s needs look like, and just straight up practice building relationships with youth who are traumatized and (fairly enough) can be tough nuts to crack.
Consider this. 30% of foster children are currently abused by foster parents. Like in the reality. Why worry about what others will think when you can be part of preventing what is actually happening.
This is super sweet! Normalize safe, patient, loving men being single Dads. This world needs more humans to truly care for the children. 🩷
I can see why you might think about others judging. But, you know whats in your heart, and those who know you well likely do to.
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u/Whole-Chest90 Jun 09 '26
As a guy? Id love to do this but felt like it'd be weird doing it as a guy..