1. Intensive Foster Care (IFC)/ Family Reunification Program - The primary service we provide is a highly specialized, intensive, and therapeutic statewide foster care program for children and adolescents who have been removed from their biological families due to severe abuse and neglect. There are currently over 12,000 children/teens in foster care in MA and less than 2,500 homes available to them. More than 600 foster children/teens are living in our foster homes each day.
2. Wraparound/Family Based Services - At any given time, nearly two-thirds of the families and children who are actively involved with the Department of Children and Families, are "intact". The children are living at home with their families, although the Department has found reasonable cause to believe that abuse/neglect has occurred. Very often, these families are provided family based services and wraparound services by a contracted agency. Dare Family Services has been a provider of these services for more than ten years.
3. Adult Mental Retardation Program - This program gives individuals the support and training they need to maximize their independence and provide for themselves. We also provide general services in Personal and Community Safety, Health and Dental Care, and Management of Individual Funds. We are committed to guiding the adults in our care to dignity and independence.
4. Pregnant & Parenting Teens Program - Our program for teen mothers and their babies is located in Newburyport, MA. Our housing setup is ideal for providing three levels of increasing earned independence as each teen learns to parent their baby and finish high school. These young mothers have a strong desire to raise their children themselves and live independently. However, their young age and family history would place their own baby at risk unless they learn the skills to parent effectively.
5. Pathways to Independence Program - One third of all homeless people in the United States grew up in a foster home. In 2004, six teens who "aged-out" of our intensive foster program ended up homeless. We immediately interceded and placed the teens back into their former foster homes the same day we found them. This began the Pathways Program, in which we place the former foster youth in families with a caring, safe adult trained by Dare. This program has proven to be a life-saver and is incredibly effective.
