Massachusetts children in foster care have a friend at “The Home”
Since 1799, children and families in Massachusetts have found help from various children’s agencies that now form The Home for Little Wanderers, also known as “The Home”.
The Home offers a range of services and programs as a result of the merging over the last decade of four major organizations: Boston Children’s Services, The New England Home for Little Wanderers, Parents’ and Children’s Services, and Charles River Health Management.
One success story from The Home involves Scott and Joey Ullrich. They initially met when Scott mentored Joey as part of the Big Brother program. Previous to his adoption, Joey – now age 13 – spent two years in foster care and three years in residential care at The Italian Home in Jamaica Plain. Scott is business manager at UU World – the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
According to The Home‘s web site, “Joey has come a long way in the last three years and is much happier for it. Scott takes Joey to soccer practice every Saturday, he’s introduced him to skiing, which he loves and he’s also developed a passion for baseball and basketball. Joey is popular with his peers, but because of the neglect he went through as a young child, he does have his struggles. He is diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and learning disabilities and attends special education classes at his middle school.”
The Adoption Program at The Home for Little Wanderers is dedicated to providing permanent homes for children and offers adoption services to prospective parents. The program offers couples and single persons of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic backgrounds and religions many options for starting or adding to their families.
NEWS ADVISORY
NCD #08–553
February 13, 2008
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
National Council on Disability to Make Recommendations on Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System
WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD) will release its latest report titled, Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions, at a news conference at 1:00 p.m. February 26, 2008, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 505A, Washington, DC. This event is open to the public and the media and free of charge.
The goal for our country’s youth is to live healthy, happy lives and to become self-sufficient, contributing members of society as adults. However, there are subsets of youth who cannot reach these goals with ease. These youth need additional supports to assist them in their journey toward a healthy adulthood, as they are more vulnerable than the “average” youth and thus are more apt to fall through the cracks during their journey. Youth development researchers have determined that some specific youth populations are more vulnerable than others. This report examines one exceptionally challenged group in particular: older youth (specifically, preteen through young adult) with disabilities who are in the foster care system.
NCD is an independent federal agency and is composed of 15 members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. We provide advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that—
(A) guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and
(B) empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.
For more information, please contact NCD’s director of external affairs, Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2004.
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