Applicants must:
- Be a resident of Massachusetts
- Be at least 25 years old
- Be a stable, mature and healthy adult able to meet the needs of a youth
- Have a clean criminal record for the past 5 years with no history of abusing children
- Have a home that meets safety requirements and standards
Yes, as long as you feel you have the time and resources to provide for a new child.
Yes! Ascentria does not discriminate against foster parent applicants on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. In fact, Ascentria is committed to recruiting more LGBTQ+ identifying and affirming foster parents, as an increasing number of foster youth also identify with the LGBTQ+ community. It is essential that LGBTQ+ foster youth are placed into homes that will affirm their identities.
Yes, many of our current foster families are working parents that juggle the responsibilities of family life. It is important that our foster families be financially secure in order to meet the needs of the foster child. It is equally important that working parents who want to foster for our program have flexible working hours in order to meet once a month with a case manager and a family resource worker.
Absolutely not. The only requirement is that your residence must meet safety standards.
No, they can share a bedroom with other children, as long ages and genders are appropriate together.
You and your foster care worker will determine the best possible match for your family which includes consideration for the gender, cultural background and age of the youth.
Absolutely! As long as your home meets the requirements, and we determine that you can care for multiple youth.
Young people in the custody of the State of Massachusetts receive Masshealth insurance, the state provided insurance program that covers medical/dental/vision/hearing, prescriptions and mental health services.
There are many factors that determine how long the licensing process takes. To become a foster parent you must attend 30 hours of training and have a social worker visit your home at least 4 times to complete a home study. If your schedule is flexible, you will be able complete the training sooner and meet with the social worker more frequently, thus helping the process along. On average, it takes about 6 months to become a licensed foster parent.
It depends on how open you are to older teens, various cultural backgrounds and sibling groups. We want to make sure that you are fostering a youth who is a good match for your family. We are committed to working WITH you to make sure that you have a positive experience.
There are a lot of different agencies you could work with. We are a small agency with more than 30 years of experience in this field, and over 140 years of serving children in the region. We are also the only agency in New England to exclusively serve refugee young people. We have the resources and experience of a much larger agency but our size and commitment provides the personal connection of a small family. We believe that our best asset is that when you work with us we treat you like family. We recognize that when you bring a young person into your home, one who truly needs your care and support -- that you will need the personal and professional support that we can provide. Ascentria also administers intensive foster care programs for American young people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We work with children and families who need our services, regardless of their background or belief.