Foster families for unaccompanied foreign minors

War and persecution in the home countries of unaccompanied foreign minors (e.g. Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, Guinea, Eritrea, etc.) make life unbearable. As a result, the young people flee their home countries and make the difficult journey to Europe without their parents in order to have a better life here. They are usually male and between 15 and 17 years old. Many of the young refugees have a long journey behind them, during which they have endured many hardships such as hunger, no roof over their heads and fear for their lives.

Many unaccompanied minors in Aachen live in residential facilities, shared flats or hotels. Some of these young people, who are here in Germany without parents or a person of trust, wish to live with a family in order to build a new home in Germany. They want to learn the German language quickly, attend school and later complete vocational training.

We are looking for foster families for these young people. Are you interested?

If you would like to take in a foreign minor, you should have an interest in foreign cultures, religions and mentalities. The young people need guidance in order to find their way in the new German culture, they need help and support in integrating and becoming independent. It is essential that you have a very good knowledge of German so that the young people learn how to use this language. It is the gateway to a life in Germany.

Due to their experiences in their country of origin and flight, many suffer from trauma - as a foster family, you must therefore be prepared to accept life with traumatized young people. The protected environment of the family offers opportunities to better come to terms with these experiences. For you as foster parents, this naturally means that you will be burdened and possibly disappointed at times.

And, of course, they are also teenagers with the sometimes stressful demands that this time of life brings with it. It is therefore certainly an advantage if they themselves have experience in dealing with people during this turbulent time of life.

At this point, we would like to expressly refer you to the General Conditions, which also apply to you.

Due to the special nature of unaccompanied foreign minors, we have decided to answer our own frequently asked questions:

• How quickly will the young person arrive? After the check, foster parents can be approached, the training may only take place afterwards.
• How long will the young person stay? The length of stay will vary greatly. It may even be that he finds his parents again and moves in with them or that he returns to his home country - but it is also possible that he stays in the foster family for several years.
• What support do we receive as a foster family?
  
  • Training
  • Advice and support
  • Securing child maintenance
  • Child benefit
  • Tax advantages
  • Pension contributions for foster parents
  • Accident insurance for foster parents
  • One-off grants for special purchases
• Who represents the young person legally? The young people have a guardian who is responsible for applications, residence status, etc. The guardian visits the young person once a month. The guardian visits the young person once a month.
• What contact is there with the biological family? If possible, there is contact via Skype or telephone or with relatives who live in Germany.
• Can I take the young people abroad? Unfortunately, it is not possible to travel abroad with the young people, which must of course be taken into account, especially here in the border region. A little shopping in Vaals or a stroll through the city of Liège must take place without the unaccompanied foreign minor, vacation trips can only be made with them in the Federal Republic of Germany (as of April 2016 - the extent to which changes will be made in the future is not foreseeable at this time).