In 2018, I asked my family how they felt about opening our home to foster care youth. Everyone agreed, and since our son was 16 at the time, we opened our home to teenage boys age 12 and older.
What we learned during our PATH classes was shocking. Not only was there a severe shortage of foster homes willing to accept teens, but when placement was not found, foster teens spent the night in DCS offices. If placement was found, it was often temporary.
Every child arrives in foster care from different backgrounds, with different problems, and having experienced different traumas and triggers; however, they all have one thing in common….fear.
Lack of consistency in placement means foster youth do not have time to create healthy attachments with foster parents and siblings; they miss out on the unconditional love and support that exists in families. Having been removed from their home and passed around the foster system, these youth learn that love comes at a cost. Love can be given, and love can be taken away.
Enter Jonathan’s Path!
Jonathan’s Path is a place where stability, love, and family starts on day one. When a teen arrives into foster care, Jonathan’s Path will be waiting with open arms to help calm turbulent waters filled with fear and uncertainty. It’s a path that might lead to reunification with their family or possibly a path to independent living. Either way, once youth come to Jonathan’s Path, they are always welcomed back home anytime. No paths are the same, but the love, stability, and support from Jonathan’s Path will be constant for every youth.
~Carrie & Jase DuRard
Foster Parents & Co-Founders