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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.

Foster Child

3 min read

Seventeen: A Foster Child's Road

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on August 18, 2020

“I’m her seventeenth.”

Foster mom’s voice was full of emotion. My eyes widened, my skin prickled. “Seventeenth? Home?”

“Yes, she’s seven, her sister is four, and I’m their seventeenth.”

A is seven years old and has lived in seventeen homes. D is four years old and has lived in nearly as many. For the seven year old, that means a new home roughly every four months. For the four year old, that means a new

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3 min read

Foster Friends

By Courtney Edge-Mattos on June 25, 2020

“Remember that no one succeeds alone. Never walk alone in your future paths.” –Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer

There are days and nights when we all feel alone. Our staff, our children, our foster parents, our biological parents…Probably even the judges presiding over these fragile lives feel alone.

But we never are. Not a single one of us. And we shouldn’t be.

We are part of a caring community. We are surrounded by friends

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