Our Family Foster Care and Adoption program provides safety and care to children who have been removed from their parents because of possible neglect or abuse. All foster parents are screened prior to licensing.

Foster Care staff and foster parents work as a team so all children can achieve permanency as quickly as possible. Birth parents receive immediate services so they can address the issues that cause their children to be removed from their care. These services are provided through our Staten Island and Brooklyn offices. Seamen’s Society makes every effort to return a child home; if this is not possible, we find a permanent loving home for the child through adoption. Many of our foster parents adopt the child in their home if return to parent is not possible.

Our Treatment Family Foster Care program works with children and adolescents who are experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties. Seamen’s Society has treatment family foster care homes in Staten Island and Brooklyn. Some of these youth have already experienced psychiatric hospitalizations and residential care placements. Treatment Family Foster Care allows youth to remain in a family setting while receiving necessary interventions. Treatment Family Foster Care parents receive additional training that includes behavior modification techniques and clinical support from the treatment team.

Permanency planning for children occurs from the moment they are placed with Seamen’s Society. When it is not possible for a child to return home and parental rights have been terminated, the adoption process begins. At Seamen’s Society our foster parents become adoptive resources for the children in their home who become legally freed. Once an adoptive home is found for the child, the adoption specialist assists the child and adoptive family to complete the necessary paperwork. Our adoption team provides supportive services to families and children to make the adoption experience a positive one.

Youth between the ages of 14 and 20 are given specialized training to prepare them for adulthood. They are invited to attend monthly workshops that address education, vocation training, employment and household management. Our youth specialists work closely with adolescents to guide them through any obstacles they may encounter on the road to adulthood. Seamen’s Society provides step by step assistance for youth as they complete college or vocational school applications and ongoing support through their college and vocational experience. Adolescents 17 and older are eligible to apply for Seamen’s Society’s paid internship program.

All children in our Foster Care programs receive excellent comprehensive medical and psychological care. Clinical services are provided by our onsite psychiatrist, psychologists, and therapists. Medical care is provided by Staten Island University Hospital clinics located on Bay Street and Mason Avenue and Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn.