About Us
With the overarching goal of making it possible for every child to have a permanent, loving family, the Office of Foster Care and Adoption develops practical methods for improving adoption and foster care policy and practice.
By working directly with professionals who interact with children and youth who were adopted or have experienced foster care — and with their families — we increase awareness of the importance of permanency and healthy development in children's and youth's lives. We want both professionals and families to understand how they can best help children and youth form permanent relationships and develop both physically and mentally healthy lives.
We achieve this through the following methods:
- Providing education and training programs for policy makers, professionals, communities, and families
- Translating research to practice and policy
- Accessing a wide variety of comprehensive resources through UMass Medical School, enabling us to better serve professionals who work with children and youth, and foster, adoptive and birth families