Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange Home Page

MARE PUBLICATIONS & ADOPTION RESOURCES

The following is a list of resources that are intended for families at all stages of the adoption process as well as professionals. 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.

MARE PUBLICATIONS

MARE Annual Report for FY07(pdf 266 KB) English
Choosing Adoption: The MARE Guide to Adopting a Waiting Child, a guide about adopting a child from foster care (pdf 565 KB) English - Espanol
Exchange News – The MARE Quarterly Newsletter (pdf 266 KB) English
FAQs about Adopting a Child from Foster Care (pdf 98.7 KB) English - Espanol
FAQs about MARE On-line Matching Program (pdf 89 KB) English - Espanol
MARE Brochure (pdf 185 KB) English - Espanol
MARE Family Adoption Party Guide (pdf 92 KB) English - Espanol
MARE Financial Guide to Adopting a Child from Foster Care (pdf 134 KB) English - Espanol
MARE Social Worker Adoption Party Guide (pdf 98 KB) English
MARE Photo Guidelines (pdf 92 KB) English
MARE Guide to Preparing for Media (pdf 96 KB) English
Social Worker Guide to MARE Programs and Services (pdf 211 KB) English
MARE Volunteer Handbook (pdf KB) English
MARE Waiting Family Booklet (pdf KB) English - Espanol

POST ADOPTION SERVICES

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC)/ Kid’s Net is a private, nonprofit society 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 Social Services, MSPCC gives support to foster, adoptive and kinship parents who care for children in DSS custody.

Adoptive Families Together (AFT), a program of MSPCC, is a network of adoptive families founded in Massachusetts by parents who understood 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.

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 Social Services

Subsidy Unit: Contact the Subsidy Unit and/or your Subsidy Administrator regarding any subsidy related concerns at 1-800-835-0838.
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).
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, board and other fees are not included in this waiver. 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 DSS at 617-748-2267.

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. To find the agency that serves your area, please contact the lead agency, Child and Family Services, Inc. at 1-800-972-2734.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS ORGANIZATIONS

The Center for Adoption Research at UMASS is dedicated to assisting families and professionals by providing independent research, evaluation and education to improve the lives of children in adoptive and foster families.

The Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS) is the state child welfare and protection agency. The Department is dedicated to the safety, permanency and well being of children who have been abused and neglected in family settings, or by recognized caretakers. In delivering services to children and families, the Department seeks first to ensure the safety of children. Please click here to review the Department of Social Services' Standards for Agency Foster/Pre-Adoptive Parents and the Agreement Between the Department of Social Services and Foster/Pre-Adoptive Parents.

Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) outlines the process that states have follow to ensure consistent protection and services to children who are placed across state lines. The Massachusetts ICPC office is housed at the Department of Social Services Central Office. They can be reached at:

Department of Social Services
Attention: Interstate Compact Unit
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
Local: 617.748.2000
Toll Free: 1.800.548.4802

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Adopt America Network (AAN) works to find permanent, loving, adoptive homes for waiting children throughout the U.S. AAN’s goal is that no child shall have to wait for adoption regardless of his/her circumstances. Adopt America Network matches only children with special needs, and their network includes field representatives throughout the country.

The Adoption Exchange Association (AEA) connects representatives of state, regional and national adoption exchanges, placement agencies, parents, child welfare professionals and concerned citizens across the United States. The AEA provides a forum that promotes the exchange of ideas and strategies, collaboration on issues of mutual interest, and increased effectiveness in utilizing resources to provide waiting children permanent homes. The Adoption Exchange Association also administers the AdoptUSKids Initiative, which includes a national on-line photolisting of waiting children, parent support groups, a national recruitment campaign, and training and technical assistance.

The American Adoption Congress (AAC) is an international network of individuals and organizations committed to truth in adoption and to reform that protects all of those involved from abuse or exploitation. Membership is open to adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, professionals and all others who share a commitment to the AAC's goals.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway, formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway, provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is the oldest and largest national nonprofit organization developing and promoting policies and programs to protect America’s children and strengthen American families. CWLA’s 1,000 plus public and private nonprofit member agencies serve 3 million abused and neglected children and their families each year.

Children Awaiting Parents (CAP) is a national non-profit organization that recruits foster and adoptive families for special needs children who have been waiting the longest for a “forever” family. CAP publishes the only printed national photolisting of special needs children and also administers a Web site, which includes photos and narratives of waiting children.

The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids is a project of The Children’s Bureau, part of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. In October 2002, The Children’s Bureau contracted with The Adoption Exchange Association and its partners (The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids) to devise and implement a national adoptive family recruitment and retention strategy, operate the AdoptUsKids.org website, encourage and enhance adoptive family support organizations and conduct a variety of adoption research projects.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption serves as an active voice for the more than 150,000 children in North America's public child welfare system who are waiting for permanent homes and loving families. The Foundation has simplified its vision into one statement, "Every child will have a permanent home and a loving family." By funding various national initiatives that directly impact waiting children and expanding the public’s awareness of adoption, the Foundation is focused on making a difference in the lives of waiting children.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute founded in 1996, is a national not-for-profit organization devoted to improving adoption policy and practice. Their mission is to improve the quality of information about adoption, enhance the understanding and perception of adoption and advance adoption policy and practice. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute pursues this mission with a concern for all participants in adoption: birth families, adoptive parents, adopted persons and adoption professionals.

Global Connections for U.S. Citizens Living Abroad is a collaborative effort of VIDA (Voice of International Development and Adoption) and The Adoption Exchange of Denver, Colorado to promote the adoption of U.S. waiting children by U.S. citizens living abroad. Both military and non-military families are invited to consider this program. For more information about VIDA and The Adoption Exchange's Global Connections program contact The Adoption Exchange by phone 303-333-0845 or e-mail Global Connections.

The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption assists states, tribes and other federally funded child welfare agencies in building their capacity to ensure the safety, well being and permanency of abused and neglected children through adoption and post legal adoption services program planning, policy development and practice. The Center provides technical assistance, consultation, training, information and referral, and resource materials to assist states and tribes in improving their adoption and adoption support and preservation services.

The North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) was founded in 1974 by adoptive parents and is committed to meeting the needs of waiting children and the families who adopt them. Since its inception, NACAC's mission has remained essentially unchanged: Every child has the right to a permanent family. The Council advocates the right of every child to a permanent, continuous, nurturing and culturally sensitive family.

Voice for Adoption (VFA) speaks out to insure permanent, nurturing families for our nation's most vulnerable children and to strengthen support for families who adopt. Voice for Adoption is a national coalition that has been established to actively encourage and advocate for national policies that address barriers to the adoption of waiting children and increase the understanding among the public, the media, and decision-makers of the needs of these children and the families who adopt. They can be reached at 703-430-7600 or by e-mail.

LITERATURE

Adopting on Your Own: The Complete Guide to Adopting as a Single Parent, written by Lee Varon, is a guide for decision-making. It addresses the questions and concerns of the growing number of prospective single parents. The book covers all stages of the adoption process, from deciding whether it's right for you, to orchestrating the adoption itself, to raising an adopted child as a single parent.

Adopting the Older Child, written by Claudia Jewett, is a classic that has withstood the test of time. This book describes the children who are waiting and the adoption process, and gives vignettes of children’s issues as they move into adoption.

Adoption is, . . . written by D. A. Royster, tells the story of one boy's adoption. This book makes it easy for parents, children, and teachers to talk about adoption. This illustrated children's book will touch the hearts of parents, educators and children as they gain a clear understanding of one family's adoption process.

Adoption Nation, written by Adam Pertman, an award-winning journalist and adoptive father, provides valuable insights into the pleasures and perils of adoption and how it affects almost all of our lives, whether we realize it or not. Pertman also lays out the ways in which policymakers should revise laws to improve the process of adoption, stop treating members of the adoption triad as second-class citizens, and remove the obstacles that keep the children who most need permanent homes from getting them.

Adoption-Works offers a priceless “gift” for the adopted child - a personalized adoption LifeBook. A LifeBook is a record of an adoptee’s or foster child’s life that uses words, photos, the child’s artwork and memorabilia to promote trust and attachment. Through author Beth O’Malley’s Web site, you can purchase Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child and For When I’m Famous: A Teen Foster/Adoption Lifebook as well as guides to help you create LifeBooks with your children. Formats are specific to children who have spent time in foster care and children who have been adopted (suitable for adoptions from foster care, domestic infant adoptions and international adoptions).

Adoptive Families is an award-winning national adoption magazine and an adoption information source for families before, during, and after adoption.

EMK Press is a publisher of adoption themed materials for Infants to Young Adults from the perspective of the child. They also believe that information is power and have developed a series of useful guides to help parents on the journey of raising an adoptive family. These are wonderfully informative guides that will help families navigate the journey of adoption parenting. They are free to download.

Fostering Families TODAY and Adoption TODAY are magazines about you: the parents, children and dedicated professionals of foster care and domestic adoption.

Parents Wanted is a novel by adoptive father George Harrar that portrays the challenges and rewards of adoption through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy who has been in multiple foster homes. It is the humorous and thoughtful story of Andy, who desperately needs and wants a loving home yet who struggles with his past and the emotions evoked by his new life.

Perspective Press has been, since 1982, providing award-winning books, articles, and workshops for consumers and for medical, mental health, counseling and allied professionals on infertility, reproductive health and alternative family building.

Tapestry Books is the largest company specializing in adoption, infertility and parenting challenges books. Their on-line catalog lists over 300 books and can be browsed by topic, title or author. Their catalog includes books written for both adults and children.