Sunday’s Child is a weekly column featuring a child currently in foster care awaiting adoption.

Julianna is a very happy, active, and outgoing eight-year-old girl of Caucasian and African American descent. She attends the third grade and does well academically. She loves to participate in team sports, gymnastics, and swimming. She makes friends easily, has a great sense of humor and enjoys being around people. She loves adult attention, especially one on one attention. She will need continued help and education from her new family around appropriate boundaries and affection. She attends therapy weekly and continues to make progress.

Julianna does well with family interactions and would do best in a quiet but physically active home with older children or much younger children. Experienced parents would be the best for Julianna. Either a mom and dad, single mom or two-mom family would be most appropriate. Julianna has a close connection with her grandmother and will need to maintain connections with her. The amount of contact will need to be evaluated by Julianna’s therapist.

What does adoption cost?

It costs little or nothing to adopt a child from foster care. Unlike international or private adoptions, there is no adoption agency fee. There are also a number of free post-adoption support services available to families statewide, including support groups and respite care. Children with special needs who are adopted from the foster care system are eligible for ongoing financial and medical assistance after adoption. These children are also eligible for a tuition waiver to attend a Massachusetts state college or university.

To learn more about Julianna, and about adoption from foster care, call the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) at 617-54- ADOPT (617-542- 3678) or visit ww.mareinc.org. The sooner you call, the sooner a waiting child will have “a permanent place to call home.’’