Soon to be 13, Cassie enjoys school and performs at grade level. She is sociable and involved in community activities, including basketball and karate. She can make friends and considers herself popular, but she needs the support of adults to help her resolve conflicts with peers. Cassie is in therapy to work through her emotional needs which stem from a difficult history. She has made great strides in residential care.

Cassie is legally free for adoption and would do best in a household with seasoned parents who can help her navigate through adolescence. Her social worker is seeking a single mom or a two-parent family in which Cassie is the only or youngest child. Cassie has just reestablished contact with her younger brother, which should continue after placement.

There are approximately 2,400 children in Massachusetts foster care with the goal of adoption. Through no fault of their own, they cannot be raised by their birth parents. Many will be adopted by a relative or foster parent, but more than 600 have no one to adopt them yet.

These waiting children are usually older, ages 6 to 16, or sibling groups who belong together, children of color of all ages, and children with intellectual, physical, or emotional difficulties or disabilities.

These children have experienced many losses and changes in their lives, and need patient and dependable adoptive parents who can help them grow and thrive in a new family. Free post-adoption support services are available to help.

To learn more about Cassie, and about adoption from foster care, call the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or visit www.mareinc .org. The sooner you call, the sooner a waiting child will have “a permanent place to call home.’’