MARE Massachusetts Adoption: How to Use the Adoption Resource Exchange

Most people who search for adoption in Massachusetts eventually find the DCF website. Very few find the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) and understand what it actually is: a quasi-governmental recruitment and matching organization that operates independently from DCF and is often the most direct path to finding a waiting child.

MARE is not a licensed adoption agency. It does not charge placement fees. It does not conduct home studies. What it does is maintain the most comprehensive database of children in Massachusetts DCF custody who need adoptive homes — and it runs the matching events and disclosure processes that connect those children to families.

What MARE Is and How It Operates

MARE was established to address a persistent problem in public adoption: children in DCF custody who were legally free for adoption but had no identified family. DCF case files and regional offices didn't have efficient mechanisms for connecting children in one part of the state to families elsewhere. MARE was created to be the bridge.

MARE operates under a contract with DCF and is funded through a combination of state funds and private donations. Its core functions are recruitment (finding and supporting prospective adoptive families) and matching (connecting those families to children). It does not compete with private licensed agencies — it specifically serves the public adoption pathway.

Approximately 2,800 children in Massachusetts DCF care are awaiting permanent placement. MARE focuses on children who have been in DCF custody for an extended time and do not have an identified family through their existing case workers.

The Heart Gallery

The Heart Gallery is MARE's most visible program. Professional photographers volunteer to take portraits of waiting children, and those images are displayed in public exhibitions — at shopping malls, hospitals, community centers — and online at mareinc.org.

The Heart Gallery photographs are specifically intended for children who are "harder to place": older children, sibling groups, and children with more complex histories. The portraits are humanizing in a way that case-file photos often are not. Many families who were not initially open to older-child adoption have connected with a child through the Heart Gallery and pursued that match.

Looking at the Heart Gallery does not obligate you to anything. It is a starting point for identifying children you may want to learn more about.

Child Profiles on the MARE Website

Beyond the Heart Gallery, MARE maintains an online database of child profiles. Each profile includes:

• A photo or video
• The child's first name (or a pseudonym for privacy)
• Age and a narrative description
• General information about the child's personality, interests, and needs
• A contact point for families interested in learning more

Profiles do not include sensitive identifying information, case history, or medical records — that comes later in the disclosure process.

Families who have completed their home study and are registered with MARE can access the full internal portal, which includes children who have not yet been featured in public Heart Gallery exhibitions. The internal portal is updated more frequently and shows children earlier in the matching process than the public-facing site.

Meet and Greets

MARE hosts regular "Meet and Greet" events — some in-person, some virtual — where prospective adoptive families and DCF social workers meet. These are not placement events. No decisions about children are made at Meet and Greets.

What they are: an opportunity for social workers to put a face to a home study profile, for families to ask questions about specific children they've seen in profiles, and for informal connections to form that can accelerate a formal match inquiry.

Many families find that Meet and Greets significantly speed up their process. A social worker who has met you in person and heard why a particular child's profile resonated is more likely to facilitate a disclosure meeting than one who only knows you as a file on a desk.

The Inquiry and Disclosure Process

When a family sees a child they're interested in, they submit an inquiry through MARE. MARE staff review the family's home study profile and the child's needs to assess initial fit. If there's a potential match, they coordinate with the child's DCF social worker.

A "disclosure meeting" follows. At a disclosure meeting, the family receives the child's complete case history: medical records, trauma history, school records, psychological evaluations, and current service plans. This is a significant amount of information, and families are encouraged to take time to review it and ask questions before indicating whether they want to move forward.

There is no obligation at the disclosure stage. The family may decline after receiving the full disclosure. The decision to move toward placement is made by the family and the child's DCF team together. The standard is always the best interests of the child.

Online Matching

In addition to the inquiry-driven process, MARE staff perform database-driven matching. They compare family home study profiles to child profiles in the system and proactively identify potential matches that neither party may have found independently. This is particularly valuable for children whose profiles may not be publicly visible yet.

If MARE staff identify a potential match, they reach out to the family directly to discuss whether the family wants to learn more about the child.

Working with MARE vs. Working Directly with DCF

Some families ask whether they should work directly with their regional DCF office or through MARE. The answer depends on whether a specific child is already known to you.

If you're fostering a child and that child's permanency goal changes to adoption, your relationship with that child's DCF case manager is the relevant one. The path to adoption runs through the existing foster care placement, not through MARE.

If you're starting from scratch with no specific child in mind, MARE is the better entry point for the matching process. MARE has a broader view of children statewide, and its matching tools are designed specifically for this purpose.

Registration and Eligibility

To register with MARE, your family must have:

1. Completed MAPP training (the 10-week Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting course)
2. Completed a home study through DCF or a DCF-contracted agency

Registration is free. The MARE website at mareinc.org handles registration directly.

MARE also allows families from other states to inquire about Massachusetts children if those families are licensed in their home state and the placement would comply with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC).

What MARE Doesn't Cover

MARE facilitates matching. It does not handle the legal process of finalization. After a match is made and a child is placed, the case transitions back to DCF and, eventually, to the Probate and Family Court for the formal adoption decree.

The finalization process — filing the Petition for Adoption (CJP 87), managing the Citation and service-of-process requirements, navigating the six-month residency period, and attending the court hearing — is separate from anything MARE does.

For families who want to understand the complete path from MARE registration through Probate Court finalization — including how to negotiate adoption assistance rates before the decree is signed — the Massachusetts Adoption Process Guide covers both the MARE matching process and the court finalization steps in detail.

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