Why Summertime Is a Challenging Time for Foster Youth

For many children, summer is a season filled with excitement—vacations, camps, swimming pools, family gatherings, and carefree days. But for children in foster care, summer often looks very different. Instead of joy and stability, the summer months can bring uncertainty, isolation, and hardship.

When school ends, many foster youth lose more than a classroom. They lose the routines, trusted adults, meals, friendships, and daily support systems that help them feel safe and grounded. For children who have already experienced trauma, separation, and instability, the absence of these supports can make summer one of the most difficult times of the year.

Introducing Set To Thrive’s new Summer Thrive Bag.

The Loss of Structure, Support, and Stability

School provides consistency. Children know when to wake up, where they will be during the day, who they will see, and what to expect. For foster youth, that predictability can be incredibly important. School also provides connection – to teachers, counselors, coaches, and classmates. These may be some of the most reliable relationships in a foster child’s life.

During summer break, those routines and connections disappear, replaced by unstructured days that can create stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation, particularly if they are in a new placement, separated from siblings, or lacking community support.

Additionally, for many vulnerable children, school breakfast and lunch programs are a dependable source of nutrition. When school is out, those meals may disappear.

Missed Childhood Experiences

Many children spend the summer attending camp, playing sports, going on trips, or participating in enrichment programs. Foster youth often miss out on these opportunities due to financial limitations, transportation barriers, or placement instability. Seeing peers enjoy family vacations or hearing conversations about summer activities may remind foster youth of family separation, loss, or experiences they have never had.

For children carrying trauma, summer’s extra downtime can also mean more time dwelling on painful memories or uncertainty about the future.

A Backpack of Hope

Children in foster care deserve more than simply getting through the summer—they deserve the opportunity to feel included, cared for, and prepared to thrive.

Something as simple as having summer clothes, a backpack for camp, or supplies for activities can help make a child feel “part of.” That’s why we’re launching our Summer Thrive Bag Drive – to help vulnerable children feel supported and cared for. To help build their self-esteem with items that bring them comfort and joy, and to lessen the discomfort they feel with the absence of school.

How You Can Help

Your support can change a child’s summer story.

You can help provide Summer Thrive Bags filled with new essentials, comfort items, hygiene products, books, activities, and resources that remind children they are seen, valued, and not forgotten by simply visiting our donation page.

A simple bag can provide more than supplies—it can provide dignity, encouragement, and hope.

Together, we can turn a difficult summer into one filled with confidence, care, and the reminder that every child matters.

Get involved today by visiting our Summer Thrive Bag page - click here!