Sunday’s Child is a weekly column featuring a child currently in foster care awaiting adoption.
Hailey is a happy and artistic 8-year-old girl. She enjoys trying new things and loves being outside especially if she can be by the ocean. Hailey enjoys doing “girly’’ things such as shopping. She also is very creative and recently enjoyed an activity where she had to think of what her superpowers would be.
Hailey is in the third grade and receives support through an Individualized Educational Plan. Hailey benefits from structure and does well with one-to-one attention. She has made tremendous progress over the last year, including but not limited to, identifying words to describe how she is feeling. Hailey will need a family that is able to support her current therapeutic work.
Hailey will need to have post adoption visits with some of her birth family members. She also has a supportive relationship with her aunts that also should continue. Hailey’s social worker is open to exploring different family types for Hailey but she will need to be placed with a family with no children or significantly older children who could serve as role models. Hailey looks forward to having a family where she is able to do fun things and be adventurous! She is very artistic and would do well in a family that has similar interests.
Who are the children waiting for adoption?
There are approximately 2,400 children in Massachusetts foster care with the goal of adoption. Through no fault of their own, they cannot be raised by their birth parents. Many will be adopted by a relative or foster parent, but more than 600 have no one to adopt them yet. These waiting children are usually older, or sibling groups who belong together, children of color of all ages, and children with intellectual, physical or emotional difficulties or disabilities. These children have experienced many losses and changes in their lives, and need patient and dependable adoptive parents who can help them grow and thrive in their new family. Free post-adoption support services are available to help.
To learn more about Hailey, 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.’’
