After 150 years, there’s nothing old fashioned about us.

 

Our Outcomes

Massachusetts faces significant challenges specific to the welfare of children and persons with disabilities – varied complex needs and not enough resources. Yet, Bridges Homeward is ideally situated to address the wide range of challenges facing the Commonwealth. We are one of the few agencies in the Commonwealth that provides a comprehensive continuum of trauma-informed, participant-led, and family-focused services specific to child welfare. Bridges Homeward operates over a dozen distinct programs within the areas of Foster Care, Adoption, Family Support & Stabilization and Developmental Disabilities all to stabilize, prevent out of home placement, and reunify or find permanent adoptive families those in care.  We have the capacity to respond to the most challenging cases with services, support, and advocacy of the highest quality. 

Permanency Through Prevention and Placement

For over 150 years, Bridges Homeward has worked to support and create safe, permanent, family. Permanency means that Bridges Homeward helps children and youth stay home, go home, or find home. We envision a world where families always have the support and resources they need to thrive. We believe that if we support all individuals to develop and nurture safe, permanent family relationships, they will be better able to reach their full potential and to contribute more meaningfully to their communities. 

We work to stay ahead of the curve through a wide variety of prevention-focused programs such as Family Support & Stabilization, Developmental Disabilities programs, Healthy Families MA, and Young Parent Supports.  Prevention helps ease pressure off an already over-burdened social service system and reduce the trauma of out-of-home placement. By providing individualized 1:1 support, parenting education, and resources before DCF gets involved, we can prevent the need for out-of-home placements. We help families stay strong and children stay home.  At the same time, for those already separated from family, we operate high quality placement programs such as Foster Care, Adoption and Young Parents Supported Living that work intensively to build back strained family relationships, important connections and find a path to go home or find home.   

Recognized as a preferred service provider by the individuals we serve, by experts in the field, by prospective parents in Greater Boston seeking to adopt, and by local Department of Children and Family (DCF) and Department of Developmental Services (DDS) offices, we are ideally positioned to deliver comprehensive, permanency-focused services essential for area residents to grow and strengthen themselves and their families in Cambridge and the Greater Boston area. 

In 2024, we…

  • supported over 1,300 individuals and families

  • legalized 9 adoptions and 2 guardianships

  • served 508 individuals with disabilities

  • served an average of 25 high-needs youth in foster care

Together we helped sibling groups stay together and matched youth and teens with their new adoptive families, served youth with significant trauma history and health challenges within our foster care program, and partnered with over 500 individuals with Developmental Disabilities to thrive with their families and reach their personal goals.   

We envision a world where everyone belongs. You are invited to partner with us in making this a reality.

There is hope on the horizon. We believe that if we support all individuals to develop and nurture safe, permanent family relationships, they will reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully to their communities. We work every day to provide the sort of high-quality advocacy and service that we know will yield the most positive and long-lasting outcomes. Please partner with us today and help make hope a reality.