POST ADOPTION SERVICES

Adoption is a life long process and the need for support and guidance does not end when a child is placed in an adoptive home.  There are a variety of services and resources available to families after placement and once again after the adoption is legalized in court.  The following is a list of resources that are intended for families at all stages of the adoption process as well as professionals. The list is divided by whether the services are available before or after legalization.  Please note that this is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list of adoption resources. To view any of the following files, you will need Acrobat Reader.

Services available prior to adoption legalization

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC)/ Kid’s Net Program is a private, nonprofit agency with a legacy of strengthening families and preventing child abuse through essential child welfare and mental health treatment and effective public advocacy. Through the Kid's Net Program, under contract with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, MSPCC gives support to foster, adoptive and kinship parents who care for children in DCF custody.   Included are family respite, training opportunities, support groups, conferences, child care, and the Kid’s Net Connection Helpline.  

Adoptive Families Together (AFT), a program of MSPCC, is a network of adoptive families founded in Massachusetts by parents who understand the benefit of peer support while raising families with complex issues. Their parent support meetings, held in the New England area, provide post-adoptive information, education and support for people touched by adoption. Contact AFT for support group locations. These groups are available to families pre and post legalization. For a schedule of local support groups, please click here.

Services available after adoption legalization

Adoption Journeys provides post adoption support services to families throughout Massachusetts. All adoptive families in the Commonwealth are eligible to receive Adoption Journeys services, which include support groups for parents and children, adoption counseling, respite services, parent liaisons, adoption competency training and regional intensive crisis response teams.  For more information email adoptionjourneys@cfservices.org or call 1-800-97-CARE-4.

Massachusetts Department of Children and Families

Adoption Subsidy -Adoption subsidies are available to parents who adopt children who have physical or mental disabilities, or severe emotional problems. The subsidy programs are intended to remove financial barriers to the adoption of children with special needs, but they are not intended to cover the full cost of raising a child.

The benefits available through the adoption subsidy programs are determined on an individual basis and may include monthly care and maintenance payments, health insurance coverage (Mass Health is intended to supplement the family’s insurance and includes medical, dental and mental health services), or reimbursements for the cost of special services. All children who are adopted through DCF are eligible to apply for a subsidy, but adoption subsidy is not guaranteed.  Subsidy programs, as administered via the Department of Children and Families, are not based upon the income of the family. The subsidy approval is solely based upon the special need(s) of the child being adopted.  Contact the Subsidy Unit and/or your Subsidy Administrator regarding any subsidy related concerns at 1-800-835-0838.

Tuition Waiver Program: Free undergraduate tuition to most of Massachusetts’ state and community colleges and universities is available for children adopted from foster care, if they are admitted. The child must be adopted by a family residing in, or employed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Room and board are not included in this waiver. Some fees are included.  Applicants must be full-time students under the age of 25 who are residents of Massachusetts. A FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) must be filed as well. To learn more about the Adoptive Child Tuition Waiver program or to apply, please contact DCF at 617-748-2267.

Other Services/Resources available to Adoptive Families

Robbie Rabbit™ Books: Written by a former foster child, the Robbie Rabbit™ series is specifically for foster and adoptive parents as well as child welfare professionals who want to help a foster and/or adoption-eligible child adjust better to tough changes in life. If you order a Robbie Rabbit™ book and enter the code MAREPP during checkout, MARE will receive proceeds from each transaction!

Camp to Belong and Sibling Connections: Creating enduring relationships for siblings who experience foster care. Through innovative programs and practices, year-round connection opportunities are provided for brothers and sisters who are separated when placed in foster care. Camp To Belong is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reuniting siblings separated when placed in foster care. Summer campers take part in events designed to help deepen the sibling connection.

Adoption Community of New England, Inc. (ACONE) offers events and programs throughout the year for all those touched by adoption, including the Annual New England Adoption Conference (the largest, single-day conference of its kind), a library of adoption-related audio, video and print materials and a directory of therapy providers. Contact ACONE for chapter locations throughout MA and New England.

Center for Family Connections is an agency whose goal is to serve individuals and families touched by adoption, foster care, kinship, guardianship, as well as other complex blended families, and to serve the people with whom they are connected, by offering clinical treatment, consultation, training, education, and advocacy.

Single Parents for the Adoption of Children Everywhere (SPACE), a chapter of ACONE, began in 1974 and is a support and information organization for single adoptive parents, singles interested in adoption, and the children of families formed through single parent adoption.

Massachusetts Department of Children and Families - Search Unit: Please contact the Search Unit at 617-748-2240 (if the adoption was done through a private agency and that agency is known, you can contact the agency directly).

Adoption Connection is one of the oldest search and support organizations for adoptees, birth parents, siblings, adoptive families and anyone who has been separated through adoption. Searches are done with strict confidentiality along with respect and responsibility for all who are involved. The entire staff, led by founder and director Susan Darke, has had a personal experience with adoption, which makes them committed and sensitive to guide and advise on how to make contact along with working through the issues of search and reunion.

Social Work Therapy Referral Service is a free, confidential telephone referral service that takes the guesswork out of finding a therapist. It provides professional, personalized counseling referrals matched for location, specialty and insurance or fee requirements. This referral service will help you find a skilled individual, family, or group therapist in Massachusetts - and it will continue to work witnh you until you find the right match.