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LIVE Explore Adoption Webinars poster
Webinar
Ongoing
LIVE Explore Adoption Webinars
Join Emily Goldberger, Family Support Services Coordinator, for an engaging LIVE presentation that will tell you what you need to know about the adoption from foster care process in MA and direct you on next steps to take to move forward in the ...
On-Demand Explore Adoption Webinar poster
Webinar
Ongoing
On-Demand Explore Adoption Webinar
Join Liz Joyal, Director of Family Support Services, for a recorded webinar. This engaging presentation that will tell you what you need to know about the adoption from foster care process in MA and direct you on next steps to take to move forward ...
Adoptive Families of Color Support Group poster
Training and Support
Ongoing
Adoptive Families of Color Support Group
This support group meets virtually on Zoom every second Tuesday of the month at 6 PM.  This monthly peer support group is created for families of color who have adopted, are in the adoption process, or have received a placement. It offers a ...
Ninja Warrior Meet & Greet poster
Matching
Sep 14, 2025, 10:00 AM - Sep 14, 2025, 12:00 PM
Ninja Warrior Meet & Greet
The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) and the DCF Central Region Adoption Collaborative invite you to a Ninja Warrior Meet & Greet! Join us to meet waiting children and sibling groups ages 9+ and to speak with their social ...
The Adoption Option poster
Matching
Oct 5, 2025, 8:30 AM - Oct 5, 2025, 11:00 AM
The Adoption Option
SAVE THE DATE! The Adoption Option: An Adoption Meet & Greet Sunday, October 5th, 8:30-11am Jordan's Furniture 50 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading MA   Get ready for our annual Adoption Meet and Greet, sponsored by our friends at Jordan’s ...
Fall 2025 TBRI poster
Training and Support
Ongoing
Fall 2025 TBRI
The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) invites pre/adoptive and recently or long-ago placed families to a series of Trauma Informed Parenting virtual trainings facilitated by Fostering Hope’s TBRI® practitioners. TBRI is a therapeutic ...
Fostering Creativity 2025 poster
Community
Oct 25, 2025, 4:00 PM - Oct 25, 2025, 6:00 PM
Fostering Creativity 2025
Join us for an art gallery style event featuring the creative designs, artwork, and messages from youth who are in and who have been in foster care. You won’t want to miss this year’s Fostering Creativity Art Showcase! Through art, these talented ...

Caregiver Training

Participation in the Massachusetts Approach to Partnership in Parenting (MAPP) curriculum is required of all prospective foster and adoptive families in Massachusetts. Caregiver Training is offered both by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and contracted adoption agencies. MARE does not offer Caregiver Training. After a prospective family’s application has been submitted to an agency and preliminary screenings are met with approval, families will be invited to attend the ten week training.

The training curriculum prepares adults to adopt a child from foster care who has experienced neglect and abuse. The training covers such topics as communication, building self-esteem, child guidance, understanding behaviors, and working with agencies and courts. The training will also include discussions about the children who are waiting to be adopted and resources and support available to you as an adoptive family.

Learn More
Current Caregiver Training
Bright Futures Summer 2025 MAPP
Jul 10, 2025, 8:00 AM - Aug 26, 2025, 8:00 AM

Summer 2025 MAPP

Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm

Dates: July 10th- August 26th 

Tuesdays: July 15th ,22nd, 29th, August 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th

Thursdays: July 10th, 17th, August 21st 

To register, please contact Karen Cheyney at (978) 263-5400 or email kcheyney@rfkchildren.org

CFS Fall 2025 Caregiver Training
Ongoing
Child and Family Services - Fall River

Tuesdays 6-9pm

  • September 9, 2025
  • September 16, 2025
  • September 23, 2025
  • September 30, 2025
  • October 7, 2025
  • October 14, 2025
  • October 21, 2025
  • October 28, 2025
  • November 4, 2025
  • November 11, 2025

To register, please call Melissa Millar at (774) 488 5019 or email mmillar@cfservices.org

Bridges Homeward Fall 2025 MAPP Trainings
Sep 30, 2025, 6:00 PM - Nov 9, 2025, 9:00 PM

Want to Foster or Adopt? Start your journey with Bridges Homeward in September 2025!
Contact familyservices@bridgeshomeward.org or by phone at (617) 876-4210 to start the process.

Fall 2025 MAPP Training Schedule:
Tuesday evenings from 6-9 p.m.
9/30/, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4,
11/10**(Monday due to Veteran’s Day holiday,
11/18, 12/2, 12/9


MAPP Training is a required 30 hour training for everyone in Massachusetts who would like to become a foster, adoptive or mentor family through Weekend Family Connections. Reach out and they will guide you through the process step by step. Space is limited and applications are accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Training is conducted virtually (via Zoom).


Partner Hosted Events

The following informational or training events are hosted by agencies that work in partnership with MARE, listed by region. Contact the host for additional information or registration.

Adoption/Foster Care Information Sessions
Ongoing

This event occurs every third Thursday of the Month. Learn more about the foster care and adoption process through the Department of Children and Families from the comfort of your own home! These meetings will be held virtually through WebEx on the third Thursday of every month from 5:30-7:00 PM

Please RSVP via email to Carolla Sanderson at carolla.sanderson@mass.gov and you will receive the call in details.

For questions, please contactcarolla.sanderson@mass.gov

Bridges Homeward (Cambridge) One-on-One Information Call
Ongoing

If you are within a 45 to 60-minute drive of Cambridge, consider working with Bridges Homeward who licenses families for adoption from foster care and MARE’s Weekend Family Connections Program. You can book a one-on-one info session with a member of their family services team by clicking here.

DCF Information Event
Ongoing

This event occurs every second Wednesday of the Month. The Central Regional ADLU hosts a virtual Informational the second Wednesday of every month from 6:00 -7:00 pm. The Informational requires pre-registration. Once registered, an applicant will be sent the WebEx link to participate.

For registration please email Heather Whitcomb at heather.whitcomb@state.ma.us

Adoptive Families Together
Ongoing
3313 Washington Street

Adoptive Families Together – MSPCC Jamaica Plain Support Group

 JRI Office, 3313 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain

 Free Childcare Provided

 1st Friday of the month, 6:30PM-8:30PM

Due to the 4th of July holiday, July's AFT meeting will be held on 7/11/25 instead. 

 AFT provides education, advocacy, training, and support to families about topics unique to the adoption experience. Our groups include parents who have adopted children of all ages and races, domestically and internationally, children placed with other family members, and children with special needs. We also welcome adopted individuals, birth parents, foster parents, guardians & adults at any stage of the adoption process.

 This is an on-going, FREE group that meet once a month. Feel free to drop in. For more info, contact Sybil Turk at 617.352.8898 or sturk@mspcc.org

Cambridge Makes Comics for Foster Youth
Aug 16, 2025, 1:00 PM - Aug 30, 2025, 3:00 PM
Bridges Homeward
60 Gore St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA
Cambridge Makes Comics is a free comic workshop series for youth who have experienced foster care to create comics, learn about mindful drawing, and meet graphic novelists from the Boston area. The sessions are on Saturdays from 1 - 3p on August 16, 23, and 30th at Bridges Homeward (60 Gore Street Cambridge, MA). Participation in all three classes is recommended but not required. Drawing materials will be provided and all skill levels are welcome!
 
DATES:
August 16, 1-3pm
August 23, 1-3pm
August 30, 1-3pm