Welcome to the Foster Care Resource & Support Hub

Supporting you in your role as a foster or adoptive parent.

Information & Resources

Information and resources to support you in your foster/adoptive parent role, all organized and at your fingertips.

Hub Partners

The Resource & Support Hub has over a dozen local participating program partners, available to personally orient and support you. Browse our list and connect.

Family Support Navigator

If you need any help navigating the hub, Caitlin, the Hub’s Family Support Navigator, is just a click away.

Drop-In Info Sessions

Each of our Hub partners has monthly “drop in” hours to orient you to their services, provide additional information, or simply be available. You can also reach our partners any time using the contact info provided on their page.

We'd love your feedback

During 2023, we will be updating and upgrading the Hub based on your feedback. If there’s something you’d like to see that isn’t available, or you have suggestions for improvement, please let us know.

Information & Resources

We've categorized the resources and information as carefully as possible to give you easy access to what you need. If there is information that is missing or you can't access, don't be shy about getting in touch with your Family Support Navigator, Caitlin. She's just an email or phone call away!

Interacting with DCF

  • Your role as a foster parent
  • Family Resource Policy (2023)
  • Contacting DCF
  • Chain of command; what to do when you don’t feel heard
  • Other available supports

Financial

  • Stipend information and payment calendar
  • Mileage & Reimbursement
  • PACT & WIC
  • Taxes

Childcare & Respite

  • Daycare support
  • Occasional babysitting
  • Respite options
  • Informal Childcare Program

Behavioral Health

  • Short-term consultation program from A Home Within
  • Children's Behavioral Health Initiative
  • Accessing mental health services in MA

Family Support

  • Available Hub partners to support your family
  • Other support opportunities in MA

Medical

  • Medical Social Workers
  • Understanding Masshealth coverage

Legal

  • Who's who in the court and legal system
  • Court timelines and processes
  • Resources from the Committee for Public Counsel Services

Education

  • Foster parents' role in education
  • Special education and foster care
  • Hub Educational Specialist

Post-Adoption

  • Hub Partner - Adoption Journeys
  • Post-adoption subsidy & supports available
  • Birth certificates, taxes, and social security cards

Enrichment

  • Funding enrichment for children in foster care
  • Grants available
  • Wonderfund card

Birth Families

  • Family Time Visits
  • Navigating relationships with birth families
  • Sibling contact

Other Issues

  • 51-A filings and responses
  • Fair Hearings
  • Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)

Hub Partners

The thirteen Hub program partners are featured below. Each has an introductory video or description about their services, a contact person, and monthly drop in hours.

If your service or organization is interested in being a Hub partner, let us know.

Drop-In Schedule

Each Hub partner hosts a monthly drop-in hour according to the schedule below. To meet with them, simply click on the link to join their Zoom room and use the password "Hub". But you never have to wait for drop-in hours! Feel free to use the contact information on each partner's page to reach them whenever you need.

Note: The Resource Hub recognizes state and federal holidays. If a drop-in time falls on a holiday, it will not be held.

Zoom Password: Hub

Use the arrows to the right of each column to organize the table by day/time, partner, or resource area.

Second Monday, 12noon A Home Within Behavioral
Third Monday, 1pm DCF Medical Social Worker Medical
First Tuesday, 1pm DCF Education Specialist Education
Second Tuesday, 10am WillPower Foundation Enrichment
Fourth Tuesday, 10am Community Action Family Support
First Wednesday, 10am Committee for Public Counsel Services Legal
Second Wednesday, 3pm Pathways to Permanency Family Support
Fourth Wednesday, 9am All Our Kids Family Support, others
Second Thursday, 11:30am Adoption Journeys Post-Adoption
Fourth Thursday, 11am Rise Above Enrichment
First Friday, 11am KidsNet Childcare, others
Second Friday, 10am Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) Post-Adoption, others
Third Friday, 10am DCF Childcare Specialist Childcare