Foster-care and adoption agencies seek individuals and families
While most of us are shopping, cooking and planning parties for this family-centered holiday season, over 800 Massachusetts children are waiting to find permanent homes. A host of state and privately run agencies are working in both traditional and innovative ways to find caring adoptive or foster homes for those children.
The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange, Inc. (MARE) recruits prospective adopters for children in foster care. Since its inception in 1957, MARE has facilitated adoptions of over 6,000 children. MARE does not process adoptions, but serves as a clearinghouse for information on adoptable children, potential adoptive families and households and information on adoption preparation. MARE hosts adoption parties and information events, posts listings of MAPP (Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) training events conducted by public and private agencies, maintains registries of both adoption-approved families and adoptable children, and offers photo and biographical listings as well as video profiles of adoptable children for potential adopters to review. One of the first five adoption exchanges established in the United States, MARE is a private, non-profit organization that receives funding from various state agencies, private foundations, businesses and individual donors.
The Plummer Home in Salem offers on- and off-site residential housing for homeless children and youths as well as foster placement. At the top of executive director James Lister's wish list is recruitment of at least 20 families to welcome a foster child or sibling group into their homes. According to Lister, in 2014 Plummer had to turn away over 200 older children and teens who have left state care. Youths who are not placed often face bleak outcomes including high rates of homelessness, unemployment and early parenthood. Plummer seeks to provide permanent foster homes and aims to rebuild relationships with family and relatives. Plummer offers prospective foster parents MAPP training, support groups, a social worker, respite care, a basic stipend and reimbursements for approved activities such as vacations, music lessons, sports and recreation. Plummer is open to foster parents who are single or partnered, heterosexual or LGBT. The youth that Plummer places vary in circumstances. "Some of them are kids in families with substance abuse problems, kids with behavior challenges. Some of them have few challenges; they have great grades, go to camp and play sports," Lister explained. Foster parents are a diverse group as well. "We may get someone who wants an older kid, a kid who likes sports or a sibling group. The system tries never to allow separating siblings," Lister noted. While Plummer receives much of its financing through state agencies such as the Department of Children and Families and the court system, a significant portion of its budget comes from private sources. Lister explained that the private funding enables Plummer to pay for a broader array of experiences for families and children. "About 25 per cent of our funding is private and we need that to do the work the way we want it to be done. We use our private money to make sure we provide a much better experience. We provide money to families for summer camps, family vacations, and for foster families' field trips," Lister said. Individuals and families interested in learning more about Plummer's programs may visit www.plummerhome.org.
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) also seeks foster parents to provide temporary foster care for children and youth who have been taken from their families due to abuse, neglect, or unsafe or dangerous conditions. The average stay in foster care for DCF children and teens is between three and 18 months, and the goal is reunification with the child's family. Foster parents are especially needed for children with special needs, children affected by drugs or in ongoing medical treatment, sibling groups and children whose families speak languages other than English. DCF is also involved in adoption, providing its own adoption services and working with other agencies to help children in foster care find adoptive homes. DCF places children with foster and adoptive parents who are single or partnered, renters or homeowners. DCF holds informational meetings on becoming a foster or adoptive parent about once a month in each of its five regions. For information on DCF's foster care and adoption services, visit http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dcf/.
A supportive, stable home is the gift that keeps on giving for both children and foster or adoptive families.