Foster Parents Needed!
Intensive Foster Care
Ascentria Intensive Foster Care (IFC) serves youth from birth to 22 years old who were placed in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). In partnership with DCF, IFC provides specialized supports to children and youth with higher-level needs so that they can achieve safety, stability, and permanency in a family setting.
Foster Parents Needed!
If your heart is called to help youth in care, this program is a way to make a tremendous impact!
Learn more about becoming a foster parent today.
At Ascentria’s Intensive Foster Care Program, we work to ensure that all children grow up in a loving family environment. We serve children from birth to 22 years old who were removed from their families due to severe abuse and neglect, disrupted adoptions, voluntary placements or request for services. In partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), we work to help children achieve safety, stability, and permanency.
Ascentria provides specialized supports to foster parents such as individual supervision for foster families monthly and as needed. Our case workers offer support through weekly home visits with the youth and foster parent(s). This ensures that foster parents have the guidance, support, mentoring, and general assistance they need to be successful.
Other key supports include:
- 24/7 on-call emergency support
- Respite care for when foster parents need a break
- Increased financial support to meet the child’s needs, tax exempt
- Ongoing trainings on topics like trauma and positive parenting
- Support groups to network with other foster parents
Ascentria is committed to recruiting a pool of diverse foster parents to meet the needs of our unique children and youth. Ascentria does not discriminate against foster parent applicants on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex, age, religion, disability, or nationality.
Ascentria is committed to being a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ children, youth, parents and families.
We are proud to announce that we are one of the 172 organizations recognized in the 2023 Cycle of the Human Rights Campaigns All Children – All Families (ACAF) initiative. With the support of ACAF, Ascentria’s Children and Family Services programs are taking active steps toward improving LGBTQ+ inclusivity, including policy changes, staff training, and external communications updates.
Join Us for an Information Session
To continue learning about foster care and how you can help children in need, attend one of our no-obligation information sessions, online or in person.
Steps to Becoming a Foster Parent
Our licensed recruiters make it easy for you to start the process of opening your home to a child or teen in need of a safe, nurturing environment.
1
Inquire, Apply and Background Check
Contact our foster parent recruitment specialists to start the process!
2
Training and Assessment
After your application has been approved, you will attend a state-mandated training followed by a series of home visits in order to get to know your family better.
You will be able to set the pace for how quickly to proceed through this important step.
3
Licensing and Matching
If the background check, training and home study are completed, and your family is a good fit for the IFC program, you will officially become a licensed foster parent!
Your family resource worker will work with your team to match you with a youth in care.
4
Placement and Support
Now the real journey begins! You will be closely supported by a team of professionals as you welcome a new family member.
This partnership will continue as we collectively work to empower the youth toward reaching their full potential and the goal of living an independent and fulfilling life.
More Ways to Help
Not Ready to Become a Foster Parent? You Can Still Help Young People in Care!
Trainings:
- Complete a 30-hour Massachusetts Approach to Partnership in Parenting (MAPP) course provided by Ascentria
- Complete a CPR/First Aid certification training provided by Ascentria
- Complete a program orientation
- Agree to complete 20+ hours a year per foster parent of additional training, provided regularly through Ascentria.
Requirements:
✓ Be at least 25 years old
✓ Be a resident of Massachusetts
✓ Be willing to attend regularly scheduled trainings and support groups, usually twice a month
✓ Have a flexible schedule that allows for many appointments
✓ Have a home that meets safety standards, including an available bedroom for a youth (can be homeowners or renters)
✓ Pass background checks including MA CORI/SORI, DCF history, and fingerprinting checks
✓ Single, partnered or married, all are welcome!
Download an Info Packet
Contact Us
Get in touch with a member of our team to start the process of becoming a foster parent!
Frequently Asked Questions
Our IFC team can assist you with any questions you may have.
Yes, as long as you have the time and resources to provide for a 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 Intensive Foster Care have flexible working hours in order to meet the needs of youth, including therapeutic services, medical/dental appointments, recreational activities, weekly visits with the child’s case worker and monthly visits with the family worker.
No. The only requirement is that your residence must meet safety standards and have appropriate physical space for a foster child.
No, they can share a bedroom with other children, as long ages and genders are appropriate together.
On average, it takes about 6 months to become a licensed foster parent. 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.
Parents in Intensive Foster Care can be approved to foster up to two children. Including both foster children and biological children, there can be no more than four children under the age of 18 in an IFC home.
Ascentria’s Intensive Foster Care program is contracted with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). Children are referred to IFC by DCF when they require a more intensive level of care – like the services and support that the IFC program offers.
Yes. Many of our foster parents have biological children of various ages. The number of children you have may impact the number of IFC children you can foster. Including both foster children and biological children, there can be no more than four children under the age of 18 in an IFC home.
Every child is unique, and has different permanency goals set by the Department of Children and Families. Depending on the child’s goal, some children are in care for a short time until they can be reunified with birth relatives, while others are in care on a more long-term basis until an adoptive family is identified or until the youth is ready for independence. Children in the IFC program are usually in care longer term, for at least one year.
Adding a new family member to your home will be life changing for each individual in your home. When a new child comes into your home, many aspects of your daily routine will change; from the foods you cook to who uses the bathroom first. Children at IFC have higher level needs, which means they may have additional medical or mental health appointments. You need to be willing to make changes in your home, schedule and routines in order to meet the needs of the new child.
Ascentria IFC families receive wraparound services that support the youth and family towards a success. Services include: intensive case management with both monthly and weekly visits from experienced social workers; 24/7 support through an emergency on call system; access to in person and online trainings on trauma, grief and loss and other important topics for supporting foster youth; and referrals to additional services as needed, such as counseling or therapeutic mentoring for the youth.
Every youth at IFC is different, but all youth in foster care have experienced significant trauma. This presents in different ways in each child. Some children may experience depression or anxiety, while others may have diagnoses such as ADHD or PTSD. Like any child, foster youth are going to have good days and bad days. What they need is a family that will help them to learn healthy coping skills and remain committed to demonstrating stability and support throughout the good and the bad.
Children in the care of Ascentria’s Intensive Foster Care program have permanency goals set forth by the MA Department of Children and Families. Goals could include reunification with birth family, permanency with kin, guardianship, adoption, or if the child is older, to prepare for independence (APPLA). Each child is unique, so the goals vary from child to child. Not all children have the goal of adoption, so it important to try to have an open mind and support that youth toward whichever goal is in his or her best interests.
Our Locations
Massachusetts
130 Liberty Street, Units 7 & 8, Brockton MA 02301
Phone: 774-434-5910
