Jasiah is a sweet, silly, and resilient 5-year-old boy who brings lots of energy and fun wherever he goes, and right now he's waiting for a family to call his own. He loves soccer, basketball, Uno, and pretending to be a superhero, and he's one of thousands of children in Massachusetts foster care hoping for a permanent home.
A Spider-Man Fan Who Never Stops Moving
Jasiah is featured this week in Sunday's Child, a weekly column from The Boston Globe that highlights children and teens currently in foster care who are awaiting adoption. According to the Globe, Jasiah loves staying active and enjoys playing soccer and basketball, running around, and swinging on swings. He also enjoys playing card games such as Uno and Go Fish, giving him plenty of ways to keep busy whether he's outside or at the table.
He's also a big superhero fan, especially of Spider-Man, the Globe reports. Jasiah loves pretending to be an action hero, and one of his favorite moves is flipping onto his beanbag.
How Massachusetts Adoption Works
Children like Jasiah are connected to adoptive families through state and nonprofit partners working in tandem. The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange, known as MARE, works with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and agencies that contract with DCF to find permanent, loving homes for children waiting in the system. That same source notes there are 8,143 children in care statewide, including 3,177 whose case goal is adoption, and more than 2,400 children without an identified family match who are still waiting to be placed.```### placeholder``` Those figures were not tied to a clear publication date in the available materials, so they should be read as a general snapshot rather than a current count.
Separately, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families has cautioned that its own adoption and guardianship figures could be undercounts at the time a report is produced, according to the agency's FY2025 fourth-quarter profile posted on mass.gov. That caveat underscores how fluid these numbers can be even when they come from the state itself.
No Cost to Adopt, State Says
For families considering adoption, the financial barrier that might come to mind isn't necessarily there. The state's adoption guidance, found at mass.gov, says there are no fees for adoptive parents in Massachusetts foster care adoptions. Adoptive parents must be at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income, and have room in their hearts, per the same mass.gov guidance cited in the Globe's reporting. Parents may be single, married, or partnered, experienced or first-timers, renters or homeowners, and the guidance specifically notes that LGBTQ+ singles and couples are welcome to apply.
The path to adoption involves several concrete steps. Massachusetts application guidance directs prospective parents to select a training date and complete a license study describing their family and recommending an adoption situation that could be a good fit. Applicants must also complete Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting, or MAPP, training, according to state guidance.
One of Many Children Waiting
Each child featured in Sunday's Child carries a distinct personality and set of hopes, but the throughline is the same: a kid waiting for a family willing to open their home. For Jasiah, that means someone ready to play a round of Go Fish, toss a soccer ball around the yard, or just watch him practice his best superhero landing onto the beanbag chair.
