JRI Fostercare Blog

Articles related to: Foster Care

4 min read

Foster Youth: Magnificent Miss M

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on January 10, 2022

On Friday, she will get the keys to her first apartment.

She will have all of the same butterflies as every young adult who has taken this step.  She will walk up the freshly shoveled path to the front stoop.  She will turn the key in the lock for the first time, swing open the door, and step into independence.

She is nineteen.  Most of her peers are still at home or in dorms for

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7 min read

Becoming a Foster Parent: Foster Parent Interviews

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on December 28, 2021

You’ve submitted the Foster Care Inquiry Form.  You’ve completed the Application.  You’ve had a Physical Standards Inspection of your home and passed.  You submitted your Autobiography and now, you’ve scheduled your first Foster Parent Interview.

Your heart beats a little bit faster.  What is going to happen?  What if you say the wrong thing?  Is there a wrong thing?

Foster care interviews are a little awkward at first.  It is hard to open your

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4 min read

Mr. Stoic: Learning to Trust in Foster Care

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on November 16, 2021

Stoic.

That is an appropriate description of him.  Mr. Stoic.

When the big sad thing happened, his face remained still and guarded.  He blinked hard a few times, but in the moment, he kept every muscle under the tightest control.

At the park when other kids were whooping on swings and careening down the slide, limbs flailing, he followed their paths, but there was a firm concentration on his brow.  He pumped his legs in

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9 min read

Why Choose JRI Foster Care?

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on October 21, 2021

Why JRI Foster Care?

According to our most recent foster family surveys, foster parents choose to work with JRI Foster Care because of the support they receive from our team and our agency.  If you’ve never done foster care, it might be hard to know what you would need in terms of support and what to look for in an agency.  Well, wonder no more!  Here are the supports JRI Foster Care provides and why

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3 min read

One More Bed

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on September 21, 2021

What if there was one more bed?

One more bed for a 14 year old would mean that Kayla could step down from a group care program where she’s completed her service plan.  She has skills to manage her anxiety and a care team to support her.  She could live with a family while her biological family regains its footing.  She could feel a bit more like a regular kid.

One more bed for a

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4 min read

A Sign from Little Miss Awesomesauce: Attachment in Foster Care

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on July 1, 2021

The goodbye was a hard one.  As soon as the kids learned that they were going to live with their relatives, behaviors that had long since stopped began cropping up again.  The cuddly children who once snuggled in for stories and movies, who danced in the living room to music, who were joyful turned angry and closed off.  Hurtful words were flung about, tantrums were common, and fists were even raised at Mama T.  “You’re

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4 min read

Forming Attachments in Foster Care: Simple Broth First

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on June 17, 2021

A buffet of food, laid out on a beautiful table.  Aromas of savory dishes, sweet treats, and spicy appetizers tease the nose.  The mouth waters, the stomach rumbles.  A starving person throws himself at the feast, grabbing with both hands, barely chewing, barely registering all that he is taking in, barely able to breathe around this life saving relief.  Other diners step back, wide-eyed at the sight, but politely understand.  He is the guest of

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3 min read

Fostering: Am I Ready? Am I Enough?

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on April 2, 2021

How long have you been thinking about fostering?  Is this a new idea or something you’ve considered for some time?

This is often the first question I ask folks, and the answer is almost always the same: years.  But they weren't sure they were ready.  They weren't sure they are enough.

They've spent years picturing what it would be like to prepare a room for a child, of the things they would do with a child or

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3 min read

Foster Care: Take a Look, Send a Book

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on January 29, 2021

This month, JRI Foster Care is hosting a book drive.  To be perfectly honest, we have no end date for this and hope to keep our book list ever-growing, but we’ve decided that now is the time to start this movement.

Why books?  With all of the moving parts of foster care, all of the challenges facing children and youth in care, what good is a book going to do?  It is a fair questions

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4 min read

A Foster Care Message: Grateful Hearts in 2020

By Robert Costa Jr. on December 2, 2020

As 2020 winds down, we all know that it has been a tumultuous year. But despite the difficulties we have faced, I know there are people we can call, day or night, when a child is in trouble.

 

They are the caretakers who open their homes when the courts order a child removed from their home for their own protection — perhaps because a parent or guardian has been arrested for drugs or violence

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Foster Care...Foster Hope

A Blog to Support Foster Parents

Our foster care program is rooted in the principle that every child deserves to feel safe, to be nurtured, and to thrive. Our foster families and staff are committed to maximizing each child's potential within our stable and loving foster homes.

Remember:

  • Stable homes nurture neglected children.
  • Compassionate homes mend painful pasts.
  • YOUR home can change the life of a child.

If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, please complete our foster care interest form.

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Rachel has been a part of the JRI team since January, 2000. For over 20 years, Rachel has been working in the field of human services assisting families with accessing and navigating services. Rachel received her Bachelors degree in psychology and Masters Degree in Public Administration from Bridgewater State University. She was promoted in July 2005 to Family Networks Program Director where she closely worked with the Department of Children Families for 10 years ensuring that children and families received the highest quality of individualized services ranging from community based through residential care. Rachel is very dedicated to helping the individuals she works with and is committed to improving the lives of children and families. Rachel’s passion for creative service programming inspires her in her role as JRI Service Navigator.