To Theresa Bartucca, there is no complicated secret to being a successful foster care mother. You simply have to love children.
She speaks from deep personal experience. Over the past nine years, 39-year-old Theresa has opened her home to 14 foster children, alongside raising two of her own daughters, Maria and Janina. Sitting in the kitchen of her spacious Third Street home—surrounded by her husband, Mario, and three current foster children—Theresa says she would readily recommend the path to anyone with a little love to spare.
“If you love children, you’ll love doing it,” she said.
Opening the Doors to Foster Care
Theresa and Mario, 36, joined the state Department of Social Services foster care program shortly after moving into their large Norwood home in December 1973. At the time, their family consisted only of the two of them.
“It’s a large house and there was just the two of us,” Theresa recalled. “I saw an ad on TV for foster parents and my husband and I decided to look into it.”
The most painful hurdle of foster parenting hit the family early on. During their first four years, nine children came and went through their doors. Because foster children typically arrive from troubled or broken family backgrounds, they stay anywhere from a few months to a few years before either reuniting with their biological relatives or transitioning to another placement facility.
Watching children she had grown to love deeply pack their bags was agonizing.
“That’s the worst part of foster care—when the children leave,” Theresa admitted. “When our first children left, that was the worst time because we didn’t have children of our own yet. I thought I was going to die.”
Over time, however, she realized it would be profoundly selfish to hold back from the program just to protect herself from heartbreak. “You have to understand that you’re giving the child something he never had and maybe never will have,” she reflected. “You never get over it. It’s like losing your own child. But it’s a fact of life and you have to go on.”
She credits the Department of Social Services for preparing them well through initial training classes that laid out the emotional realities and negative aspects right from the start.
Patience, Rules, and Compassion
According to Theresa, being an effective foster parent requires more than just an endless supply of affection: “Patience, compassion and a sense of humor—anything that a normal mother would need. I wouldn’t say everyone, but every caring human being can be a foster parent.”
Instilling structure can present unique challenges, particularly when working with children who have lived through chaotic, disorderly environments. “You have to set down rules and regulations,” Theresa notes. “You have to show them the right direction.”
A Critical Shortage of Foster Homes
While dedicated parents like Theresa make an immense impact, recruitment remains an uphill battle. According to Pamela Flynn-Chubert, director of the Foster Family Network—a collaborative program between the Department of Social Services and the New England Home for Little Wanderers—the Norwood area is facing a severe shortage of foster homes.
“If a kid needed a home right now, there might not be one,” Flynn-Chubert warned. “It’s really hard to get foster homes.”
Local residents interested in learning more about becoming foster parents can reach Pamela Flynn-Chubert by calling 769-9130 or writing to her at 1416 Boston-Providence Highway (Route 1), Suite 219, Norwood, MA 02062.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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