Fostering Teenagers in Saskatchewan: What It Takes and What the System Offers

Teenagers are the hardest age group to place in foster care. This is true in every province. In Saskatchewan, where over 80% of children in care are Indigenous and many have experienced multiple placement disruptions, the shortage of homes willing to take adolescents is severe.

If you're considering fostering a teenager in Saskatchewan, here is what you're actually taking on — and what the system provides in return.

Why Teens Are So Hard to Place

Most prospective foster parents imagine caring for young children. The reality of the Saskatchewan foster care population skews older. By the time many children reach adolescence, they've had several placements — some have been in group homes, some have aged through several foster families. They arrive with significant histories.

Common challenges with teenage placements:

• Attachment disruptions. A teenager who has been in care since early childhood has often learned that adults don't stay. They may test your commitment aggressively and unconsciously — the goal being to get you to reject them before they get attached.
• School disengagement. Children who move between placements frequently fall behind academically and lose the social structures that school provides.
• Substance use. The SACY (Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth) 2025 annual report documented ongoing concerns about substance use among youth in care, including toxic drug exposure.
• Involvement in child exploitation. Older youth, particularly young women, are at disproportionate risk of sexual exploitation. The SFFA (Saskatchewan Foster Families Association) offers specialized training modules on recognizing and responding to trafficking situations.
• Identity and culture. For Indigenous teenagers, the intersection of adolescence with questions about cultural identity and family history requires thoughtful, culturally informed support.

This is not a list designed to discourage you. It's a list to set accurate expectations, because foster parents who go in with idealized expectations often disengage after the first difficult stretch. Foster parents who understand what they're facing tend to last.

Financial Support for Adolescent Placements

Saskatchewan uses a PRIDE Levels of Pay structure that explicitly compensates for the higher demands of adolescent care. Basic maintenance rates increase with age:

For teenagers with more complex needs — which describes many adolescents who have been in care long-term — caregivers can access higher PRIDE service fee levels:

• Level 3 (~$1,300/month supplemental): Covers adolescent parenting and therapeutic care
• Level 4 (~$2,100/month supplemental): Complex behavioral needs
• Level 5 (~$2,900/month supplemental): Medical and developmental complexity

These supplemental fees are in addition to the basic maintenance rate. A Level 3 foster parent caring for a 16-year-old in southern Saskatchewan receives approximately $767 + $1,300 = ~$2,067/month for that child — covering the child's food, shelter, transportation, and care costs plus a service fee for the caregiver's professional-level work.

Additional supports available for teenagers in care include recreation funding (sports fees, music lessons, extracurriculars), travel reimbursement for appointments or family visits at approximately $0.56/km, and respite funding to hire a break caregiver.

What Adolescent-Specific Training Covers

Fostering teens requires completing PRIDE pre-service training (approximately 30 hours) and is strongly supported by additional specialized modules through the SFFA. Relevant training includes:

• Adolescent development and attachment
• Trauma-informed parenting strategies for older youth
• Supporting young people who have experienced sexual exploitation
• Navigating the youth justice system when a teenager in your care has a criminal record or is involved in legal proceedings
• Understanding youth transition planning (what happens when they turn 18)

If you're specifically committed to taking older youth placements, communicating that clearly in your home study range of acceptance — "we're prepared for and specifically interested in teenagers" — helps MSS match children more effectively.

The 18 Transition Problem

One of the most painful realities in Saskatchewan foster care is what happens when a youth ages out of the system at 18. Provincial programming includes some supports for youth transitioning from care, but the gaps are significant. Youth in care are substantially more likely than their peers to experience housing instability, unemployment, and contact with the justice system in the years immediately after leaving care.

Some foster families choose to maintain relationships with former foster teenagers beyond the legal mandate. This is encouraged but not required. If you foster a teenager and become a meaningful adult in their life, that relationship can continue on whatever terms both parties find useful.

For foster families thinking seriously about adolescent placements, the Saskatchewan Foster Care Guide includes specific guidance on care planning for older youth, the PRIDE service fee structure, and how to navigate the transition support resources available through MSS and the SFFA.

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