March 13, 2026

On average, youth experience an average of more than seven placements in the foster care system. Each new placement represents a traumatic moment youth are forced to adjust to a new environment, new people, and new routines. This is especially difficult for youth of color.

At the end of FY24, approximately 58% of children aged 0 to 17 served by the Department of Children and Families were children of color. (Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, 2026). Research has shown that youth of color are disproportionately affected and face more systemic barriers compared to their white peers.

Cultural Loss Challenging a Sense of Belonging

Youth in foster care often experience a loss of identity by being separated from their birth families. For children of color in foster care, this also creates a disconnect from their culture. Once they are removed from their homes, the children are pulled away from their family traditions and community, and they are often expected to adopt different cultural norms.

This not only causes emotional trauma from losing their family, but it also impacts their sense of self as they adjust to new ways of living. Respecting and supporting a child’s cultural and racial identity is critical for creating stability in the foster home and nurturing belonging for their future.

Centering Identity in Permanency Planning

When a youth comes to Plummer, we begin by identifying the youth’s family members who can provide permanency. Permanency is an enduring family relationship that is safe and meant to last a lifetime. It offers the legal rights and social status of full family membership and provides for physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual well being. It assures lifelong connections to extended family, siblings, other significant adults, family history and traditions, race and ethnic heritage, culture, religion and language.

We begin by partnering with the youth and any family members that are currently involved in the young person’s life. We find out who is important to them? Who are they missing and who is missing that young person? Family members help maintain a child’s culture by immersing them in the traditions and experiences they would naturally grow up with. Youth are able to eat the same traditional foods or have opportunities to learn family recipes passed down by generations.

As part of our outreach work with families, we intentionally build in opportunities and strategies for the sharing of cultural knowledge and traditions. Together, they can communicate in the same language and grow up learning the cultural expectations of their heritage. From family trees and genograms to ensuring youth are able to spend time in a kitchen with their family members and learn how to make their favorite foods—just like their grandmother does it. Timelines, life books, and other narrative and creative offer an opportunity to share stories and histories that bring the youth’s culture to life. This helps strengthen their cultural identity and reinforce their sense of belonging.

We recognize that kinship care provides the strongest foundation for preserving a youth’s cultural identity and building their supportive network. Family extends past just mom and dad. We help the youth reach out to aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, or cousins and beyond. Extended family members serve as natural supports that can help reduce the trauma of being separated from their parents. Fictive kin, or family-like relationships can also be rich source of community and cultural knowledge for young people, and we work hard to engage all of the people a young person identifies as family.

Growing a Community of Foster Families That Celebrate Every Identity

Every child deserves to experience feeling seen and accepted as they navigate the foster care system. Representation and respect are integral for a person of color’s self-esteem and feelings of acceptance. We encourage foster parents to honor and respect their foster child’s cultural background as an essential part of their well-being. There are several ways to nurture the youth’s cultural identity, such as celebrating important holidays, preparing traditional foods, attending cultural events, and connecting the youth to mentors who share their racial identity.

Our hope is to place the youth we serve with families of similar cultural backgrounds. When a child is placed with a family who understands their culture, language, and traditions, it helps minimize their feelings of isolation and provides a sense of stability during an already difficult time. As children of color remain overrepresented in foster care, we need foster families from diverse backgrounds to help bridge that gap. We hope to find more foster families of different racial identities to help provide an accepting, loving home.

Cultural identity is so important to create a more inclusive future for the youth we serve. If you’ve ever considered fostering, now is the time. Join us in creating welcoming homes that every child deserves!

Resources

Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. (2024). FY2024 DCF annual report. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. https://www.mass.gov/doc/fy2024-dcf-annual-report/download