foster care

When we first met Aaron Maloy 20 years ago, he was fresh out of college, and still emerging from a life spent in foster care from the age of 12. Today, he’s a nurse practitioner, with his own practice in Plymouth. But his master’s-level credential makes him an outlier. People who have been in foster care are some of the most educationally disadvantaged in the United States, even on Cape Cod.

Foster parents report that the experience is challenging and rewarding.

As of last December, 119 children from Cape Cod were in foster care because their families were unable to care for them, at least temporarily. Advocates say many are placed off Cape because not enough local foster homes are available.