Jeremiah is 14, loves football and basketball, and spends his free time gaming and cracking jokes that make the people around him laugh. He is also still waiting for a permanent family, one of roughly 1,400 Massachusetts youth currently unmatched with an adoptive home despite having a goal of adoption.
Jeremiah’s story appears in this week’s Sunday’s Child column, a recurring feature from The Boston Globe that spotlights children and teens in Massachusetts foster care who are awaiting adoption. According to the profile, friends and teachers describe Jeremiah as funny, kind, and a natural leader — the kind of teen who enjoys football, basketball, other sports, and video games, and who has become a positive role model simply by making the people around him laugh.
Jeremiah’s situation reflects a broader challenge across the state. The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange works on behalf of children and teens in the state’s foster care system who are awaiting adoption, with a particular focus on finding homes for those who wait the longest. The organization’s own figures put roughly 5,500 youth ages 0 to 17 in Massachusetts foster care, with about 1,400 of them unmatched with a family despite having adoption as their goal.
Why Teens Like Jeremiah Often Wait Longest
Nationally, the stakes for teens who age out without finding a family are steep. MARE notes that approximately 25,000 teens age out of foster care each year without a permanent family. The same organization’s data shows children of color have represented more than 55 percent of those registered with MARE, despite representing only about 20 percent of all children in Massachusetts, and that more than 70 percent of children in foster care are estimated to be separated from at least one sibling while in care.
Other groups face particular hurdles finding homes as well. MARE reports that LGBTQ+ youth make up about 34 percent of the foster care population nationally, compared with about 5 percent of the general population, and that children with disabilities and complex needs comprise roughly 24 percent of children in foster care in the United States. Children registered with MARE who have physical, emotional, or intellectual needs wait about one year longer, on average, for an adoptive family than their peers, per the same organization.
What It Takes to Adopt From Foster Care in Massachusetts
The requirements to become an adoptive parent in Massachusetts are broader than many people assume. Prospective adoptive parents must be at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income, and have room in their heart, according to the Globe’s profile of Jeremiah. Adoptive parents can be single, married, or partnered; experienced or inexperienced with parenting; renters or homeowners; and LGBTQ+ singles or couples are welcome to apply.
Cost is not a barrier, either: adoption from foster care costs adoptive parents nothing in Massachusetts, a point MARE’s frequently asked questions page also confirms, noting there is no cost to adopt from foster care, including no fees to become licensed or to process the adoption. MARE separately notes that families typically take between eight months and one year to complete the steps required to become licensed through the state’s foster care system.
The process itself includes training, interviews, and home visits meant to assess whether adoption is the right fit for a prospective family, after which the state works to match families with a child or sibling group suited to them. According to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, once an application is approved, the agency begins working to find a child who could thrive in that particular family. Massachusetts law adds another layer of protection for older children in these cases: under Massachusetts General Laws, a adoption decree generally cannot be issued without the written consent of the child if that child is older than 12, subject to certain statutory exceptions.
Jeremiah’s profile follows a similar Sunday’s Child feature published last month on Jacob, a 16-year-old described as resilient, driven, and fun-loving with an excellent sense of humor, who enjoys video games, rap and hip-hop, sports, and hiking. That earlier profile likewise noted that adoption from foster care is completely free in Massachusetts and involves training, interviews, and home visits — the same groundwork now outlined for families who might consider welcoming Jeremiah into their home.
