Foster Care: Top 10 Reasons to Choose the YMCA

There are so many reasons to foster with the YMCA of Greater Seattle. The Y is a private Child Placement Agency that provides licensing, placement, and case management services. Our incredible team is here to support you through every step of your journey. 

Our department also provides needed behavioral support for foster youth through our Wraparound with Intensive Services and Behavioral Rehabilitation Services Programs. In addition, we are nestled within the broader YMCA Social Impact Center (YSIC), the social services division of the Y, providing critical services to youth and young adults. YSIC’s programs include housing and homelessness prevention, crisis and outpatient behavioral and mental health, substance abuse counseling, violence prevention, employment and training, and foster care transition programs. 

1. Individualized Support

Foster parents and kinship caregivers receive individualized support and intervention based on the unique needs of the family and each child (0-21) placed in the home. The YMCA uses a team approach to provide services and works closely with the youth’s DCYF social worker, natural supports, and other providers. 

2. Connection

Caregivers licensed with the YMCA are a part of the YMCA Community of Fostering. They are connected to a peer network of experienced and newly licensed caregivers who work together with YMCA staff to support each other and the children in foster care. 

3. Affirming Agency Committed to Anti-Racism

The YMCA is proud to license LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC families to meet the cultural needs of children, youth, and young adults in foster care. The YMCA proudly proclaims that Black lives matter. We cannot empower all people, especially the young, to achieve their fullest potential in spirit, mind, and body until we disrupt racism, achieve equity, and justice for all, and press forward to become an anti-racist organization.

4. Training

Receive support from your YMCA Licensor to complete all licensing requirements and ongoing training and paperwork needed for a license renewal. Work closely with a Foster Parent Coach dedicated to caregiver education and development to receive specialized recommendations to increase your skills. Attend the YMCA’s monthly Caregiver Support Group to learn from fellow caregivers and YMCA staff with experience navigating the child welfare system and supporting youth. 

5. Case Management

YMCA families who have a youth placed in the home long-term will receive case management services directly from the YMCA in addition to coordination with the youth’s state social worker. Children with more needs may receive additional support depending on eligibility. 

6. 24/7 Crisis Support

The YMCA is responsive to the needs of children in foster care and caregivers and provides crisis stabilization and other support when needed. Caregivers can access crisis support services at any time they are needed.

7. Respite

Caregivers need a break! YMCA families receive regular monthly respite hours and can connect to a community of foster parents capable of providing respite care.

8. Therapeutic Services

The YMCA’s foster care program has been providing therapeutic foster homes and wrap-around mental health & behavioral services for foster youth for over 35 years. These homes and services support the system’s most vulnerable and high-needs kids. Foster parents providing therapeutic foster care receive additional monthly compensation, training, and work closely alongside therapists, caseworkers, and other professionals.

9. Expertise in Supporting Teens

Teens in foster care experience the most barriers to finding safe and stable homes. Our staff at the YMCA have a passion and the necessary experience to support teens and their caregivers.

10. Free Household Membership

All YMCA licensed foster parents and kinship caregivers receive a free family membership to the YMCA of Greater Seattle to be used at any of the 14 locations in King County.