What to do Next Important Adoption Facts How to Help Contact Us

What to do Next
Call MARE for information on adoption,
questions about specific waiting children or
any other adoption related inquiry. You can
also visit our website at www.mareinc.org and
inquire on-line.
MARE has been finding adoptive families
for children in foster care since 1957
How to Help
Important
Adoption Facts
•
Hundreds of Massachusetts children in
foster care are waiting to be adopted, and
more than 114,000 in the U.S.
•
It costs little or nothing to adopt a child
from foster care.
•
You can be any age as long as you are at
least 18 years old.
•
You can be married, single or partnered.
•
Gay and lesbian singles and couples are
eligible to adopt.
•
You can have nearly any income level as
long as your income is stable and can
support a child.
•
You don’t need to be a homeowner.
•
Health issues or disabilities do not
automatically disqualify you.
•
You don’t need to be the same race,
ethnicity or religion as the child.
•
Once you are homestudied and approved,
you are eligible to adopt children from
foster care nationwide.
•
There are often financial and medical
subsidies available after you adopt.
•
There are free post-adoption services
available statewide.
1. To volunteer at MARE, please call the
MARE office.
2. Make a donation to MARE on our
website or by mail to our address below.
Many companies have a matching gift
program, so check with your company to
see if they can match your gift to MARE.
3. Donate your car through the MARE Car
Donation Program. For more information
call or go to the MARE website.
Contact Us
MARE
45 Franklin Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1301
617-54-ADOPT or 1-800-882-1176
Fax: 617-542-1006
TTY: 617-542-7772
www.mareinc.org
MARE is funded in part by the
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families
Did you know:
There are roughly 10,000 children
in foster care in Massachusetts;
Over 600 are waiting to be adopted,
maybe right in your neighborhood!
adoptive parents in casual and fun settings.
Each party is held in a different region of the
state. Adults or families can learn more about
adoption, meet waiting children and network
with social workers. Since 1998, Jordan’s
Furniture has partnered with MARE and DCF to
host adoption parties and address the needs of
waiting children through public education.
What is MARE?
The Massachusetts Adoption Resource
Exchange (MARE) is a private, non-profit
agency that exists to find “a place to call
HOME” for childreN waiting in foster care,
including sibling groups, children of color of
all ages and children with intellectual, physical
or emotional difficulties or disabilities. We do
this by recruiting, educating, supporting and
advocating for FAMILIES throughout the
adoption process.
Founded in 1957, MARE works in cooperation
with the Massachusetts Department of Children
and Families (DCF) and private agencies to
help find permanent adoptive families for
children in state foster care. MARE provides a
variety of programs and services for families,
waiting children and their social workers.
Information/Referral
Anyone seeking adoption information can call
MARE. Staff members are available Monday
through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer
questions regarding specific children and the
adoption process in general. We can send
you an information packet and/or refer you to
adoption agencies to start the process.
Registration/Matching
Social workers register waiting children with
MARE to find families for them through our wide
array of programs and services. Individuals and
families who have been homestudied and
approved to adopt a child from foster care can
also register with MARE for our free matching
service. Non-registered families can also use
our Online Matching program to search and
make inquiries on any child listed with MARE,
based on the criteria the family inputs.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids
MARE Photolisting®
MARE maintains a book containing biographical
descriptions and photographs of children
who are registered with MARE and available
for adoption. Updated monthly, the MARE
Photolisting® is located in most public libraries
statewide, as well as in many adoption
agencies. Our Online MARE Photolisting
includes many children photolisted with MARE.
Media Campaigns
MARE coordinates numerous ongoing media
& recruitment campaigns featuring specific
children available for adoption. Below are just
a few of our campaigns:
• Wednesday’s Child with Jack
Williams on WBZ-TV4, Boston
• Sunday’s Child® in the Boston Globe
• The Heart Gallery, a photo exhibit
of waiting children
• En Busca de un Hogar with Sara
Suarez on Univision
The full listing is on our website.
Adoption Parties
Four to six times per year, MARE hosts
adoption parties to bring together social
workers, waiting children and prospective
MARE is the proud recipient of grants from
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption,
a non-profit public charity dedicated to
dramatically increasing adoptions of children in
North America’s foster care systems. Wendy’s
Wonderful Kids (a signature program of the
Foundation) recruiters employ a child-focused
recruitment strategy which involves regular
meetings with children, adoption preparation
and the creation of recruitment plans to find
families for children waiting to be adopted.
AdoptUsKids
MARE serves as the Massachusetts Response
Team for the national family recruitment
campaign conducted by the Adoption
Exchange Association, the Children’s Bureau’s
Collaboration to AdoptUsKids, and the Ad
Council. MARE staff personally respond
to and maintain contact with families who
inquire through this initiative in both English
and Spanish.