Adoption. Foster Care. They are really just fancy words for love.
The many ways to finding family at Bridges Homeward
For over 145 years, we have watched prospective parents make the decision to welcome a child into their home and start a family. Today, our Adoption and Intensive Foster Care programs work to ensure that all children and teens have the opportunity to grow up in a committed, healthy, loving family. One that provides unconditional love, a sense of security, and a community to call their own. It's what we call permanency. Here, our social workers understand the complexities and challenges for everyone involved in the adoption and fostering process. We support children and parents every step of the way, ensuring that parents are fully prepared to offer a home where children can thrive.
Are you a prospective parent?
Family Services is here for you.
Our Family Services program recruits, trains, and supports adoptive and foster parents, helping to make sure their journey goes as smoothly as possible. There’s no better way for prospective parents to prepare for adoption and foster care. Together, we make sure every parent has all the tools and resources necessary to provide a safe, loving, and therapeutic home. Prospective parents can take advantage of a range of services including training, matching (youths with the right families), and supporting families once we’ve found their match.
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Bridges Homeward is taking a new innovative approach to how children, teens, and young adults can interact with more families. The goal is to build connections between young people in foster care and nearby communities; ones that will ultimately lead to adoption while providing them with a positive experience of family life. By committing to just two weekends a month, families can welcome a youth into their home, share their lives, and introduce them to others who may be interested in adoption.
To learn more, visit our Weekend Family Connections page.
Adoption
Our Adoption program works to ensure that all children and teens have the opportunity to grow up in a healthy, committed family that provides unconditional love, a sense of security, and a community for the child to call their own. Here, we provide adoption planning and case management services for children and teens in the custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). We typically work with youths who face the greatest challenges to adoption: older children, sibling groups, and children with medical, developmental, emotional, or behavioral special needs.
Intensive Foster Care
Our Intensive Foster Care program supports children and teens in foster care who were born exposed to substances, experienced abuse or neglect, or have complex medical needs. Working with DCF, Bridges Homeward finds transitional, therapeutic foster care for these children. Our team of foster parents and social workers provides specialized, round-the-clock care, support, and guidance for the youths in our care. Through this collaboration, we support the child’s successful transition into a permanent placement: reunification with their birth family, guardianship, kinship care, or adoption.
We are truly thankful for the information, support, and guidance we received from Bridges Homeward. We recommend Bridges Homeward to all our friends looking into adoption.
— Bridges Homeward Client
At Bridges Homeward, we embrace diversity.
We celebrate the many different cultures, experiences, and identities that form a family. We are proud to work with families of all constellations and backgrounds. Our values around diversity, equity, and inclusion guide us in ensuring that youths have safe, healthy families and unconditional love.
Finding Family Everywhere.
Casey was seventeen when she had her son Lucas. Like so many young mothers, Casey was unprepared for motherhood. Since she did not know how to protect and care for her child, Lucas was placed in foster care. When his foster parents learned about Lucas’s biological family, they realized that his young mother just needed some guidance and support. They started inviting Casey into Lucas’s life more. She participated in his doctor’s appointments and even visited her son in his foster home. Thanks to their support, Casey was able to fully step into her role as his mother. As a result, they were reunited and live together today.
