Foster care and adoption services

New Directions provides therapeutic and traditional foster care services for children throughout Western New York. We recruit, screen, train, and certify caring couples and individuals to serve as foster parents for children with special needs and those needing a stable home environment. In doing so, children have the valuable opportunity to live in a community, and develop within a family setting.

Creating a forever home or permanent placement is important for all youth. For children needing to be adopted, a social worker or case manager actively seeks adoptive resources and provides assistance to the adoptive family. For youth whose goal is to return to their birth family, a social worker or case manager facilitates reunification, coordinates services, and serves as a liaison among all involved parties.

Foster and adoptive parents are carefully screened and must successfully complete the free MAPP/GPS II certification process. Our families are professional, teaching parents. To meet this standard, each year, they complete 24 hours of specialized training, including behavior management, medical concerns, mental health, grief and loss, how to assess youth’s needs, and how to help the youth maintain connections to family and friends.

As a foster parent, you have a uniquely rewarding opportunity to support a child in need of nurturing, love, guidance, and compassion. You may also help to reunify a family experiencing a difficult time. For those interested in adopting, fostering to adopt provides a chance to expand your family by giving a child a permanent home. Visit our “Foster With Us” page to find out more about being a foster parent and to download a copy of our Foster Care and Adoption brochure today!

For more information, including opportunities to become a foster parent, contact one of our regional offices.

For Erie and Niagara counties:
Melissa Bonello
Phone: 716.535.1789
Email: mbonello@ndyfs.org

For Allegany, Cattaraugus,
and Chautauqua counties:
Missy Martin
Phone: 716.358.3636, ext 232
Email: mmartin@ndyfs.org