The Foster Process

Preparing for and acclimating to your first foster dog is often the biggest challenge. Everyone in the household must be completely committed to this experience. As you care for more and different dogs, the potential knowledge you will build about behavioral and vetting issues, adoption placements and matches, and rescue in general is immeasurable and empowering, but there may also be set-backs, frustrations, and possibly some destroyed items. We are looking for foster homes who are problem-solvers, kind, patient and committed to fostering repetitively.

If fostering with SOSARL sounds like a good match, and everyone in your household is onboard, please start the process by completing the foster application and plan to join us at our next New Volunteer Orientation & Open House.  Our Foster Home Coordinator will be in touch with within a few days of receiving your foster application.

ATTN POTENTIAL ADOPTERS:  Please note that our foster home applications are processed differently than our adoption applications. If you are seriously considering adoption, please complete our adoption application.  New foster homes should not be planning to adopt one of their FIRST FIVE foster dogs.

ATTN MA RESIDENTS: Fostering dogs from other states by Massachusetts residents is very hard to accommodate due to burdensome animal importation requirements mandated by MA, even on animals from neighboring states like RI and CT. If you live in MA and are looking to foster a dog, we recommend that you reach out to a local MA shelter or rescue to see if you can foster with them. We sincerely apologize to those Massachusetts residents who wish to open their homes to a homeless animal but are faced with this barrier. Learn more about this barrier, and how you can change it, here.

If you have done your homework and believe fostering with SOSARL is a good match for you at this time in your life, start by completing our online foster application. We ask lots of questions so as to help get a feel for your lifestyle, household, and expectations, all in the effort to help set you up for a successful fostering experience.

Review Application and Acknowledge - Within 48 hours of receiving your application, we will reach out to you through email to confirm receipt of your application, as well as to share a few preliminary resources with you, including:

• SOSARL Rescue Process/Flow
• Foster Home - Key Do’s and Don’ts
• SOS Education & Development Learning Series, Video 1:  Dog Behavior Basics (56 minutes)

Reference Checks, as applicable - As soon as possible after receiving your application, possibly even before Step 2, our volunteer team will reach out to your landlord, vet and personal references, as relevant. Please ensure that you have given each of your references a heads up about your intentions to foster and that they have permission to speak with us.

Let’s Talk - This is our favorite part of the onboarding process, because this is where we get to learn about you, your life and your family, and why you are interested in fostering…and we get to tell you about OURSELVES! ☺ This conversation may be done in one long sitting over Zoom, or split across several sessions (eg, a phone call, Zoom session, in-person home visit) depending upon several variables, including our volunteers’ availability and your readiness to foster.

Resources that will be shared during this step include copies of our Code of Conduct and contracts, as well as a link to our introductory video to dog behavior and training.

• Foster Contract
• Volunteer Contract
• Code of Conduct

Knowledge Reinforcement - After the above steps are completed, we will ask you to complete our Foster Home Quiz. We have created this quick online quiz to reinforce some of the many details we have shared with you during this process. Don’t worry – it’s open book!

Finalization - At this point we will collect the completed foster and volunteer contracts from you, and record you in our system as an official foster home!

Upon successfully completing the above steps, we will welcome you to the SOSARL Foster Team! We will send you an email with directions for how to join our private Facebook Groups, how to access our internal online Volunteer Resources Center, and introduce you to our other members! We will also start to suggest possible foster dog matches!

Over the next few days/weeks, we will work together to identify a good first foster dog for you. Depending upon the specifics of your home and our needs, this may take a few weeks, or we may have a dog who needs you right away! The Foster Coordination Team will be with you every step of the way with your first few fosters. As you gain experience, you will become more comfortable, but there will always be more to learn, and our team is committed to providing you with all the best resources to help you succeed.