During their long lives (30-40 years), Helping Hands monkeys spend significant amounts of time living in volunteer foster homes.
The focus of our Foster Home Program is to raise happy and healthy monkeys, and to prepare them for their important roles as helpers and companions. Monkeys with special needs may also live in special care homes.
Adopting a monkey is both a major commitment and an adventure. Helping Hands provides a comprehensive support system for foster parents. Our foster parents are volunteers, primarily in the New England area. We appreciate and applaud them for their unselfish dedication to bettering the lives of disabled individuals.
Foster Home Program Guidelines
A foster family's responsibility involves loving and caring for a monkey in their home. Caring for a monkey is fun and rewarding, but it is not easy. It is time consuming, entails some expense, and requires a considerable amount of patience.
Caring for a capuchin monkey is similar to caring for a human child and it requires nearly as much time. Because of the extensive time commitment required, the primary caretaker, if employed, must work from home, or, in certain situations, may work part-time outside of the home. Students and individuals who work full-time are not eligible as they are unable to provide the structure that young monkeys require. All primary foster parents must be adults.
Foster homes may not include any children under the age of 10. This includes children who are part of the family, as well as other children who are being cared for on a regular basis in home daycare or babysitting situations. In our experience, the combined demands of young children and monkeys are overwhelming. The presence of older children in the home is fine, and older children may even enjoy being involved in the monkey's care.
Foster care providers incur certain expenses. These include items such as monkey chow and other foods, cage materials, routine veterinary care, leashes, waist collars, diapers, and toys. The basic supplies required to support a foster monkey need not be expensive, but many foster parents choose to spend more on their monkeys (e.g., buying elaborate toys, building custom cages, taking many rolls of photographs). Of course, all daily routine living expenses associated with the monkey's care are tax deductible, as Helping Hands is a non-profit organization. The foster parent is expected to cover the cost of traveling to Helping Hands in Boston for orientation and to pick up their monkey in person whenever possible. Helping Hands will arrange for the monkey's air transportation to and from a major airport closest to the foster home, if air transportation is required. Foster parents must be able to provide transportation to and from the airport, when necessary. Helping Hands also provides behavioral and veterinary consultation as needed throughout the foster monkey experience.
The primary foster parent should be prepared to have their foster monkey spend at least 5-6 hours out of the cage each day. When monkeys play out of their cages, they are quite active. They run around exploring their homes and may occasionally knock things down. Foster parents prepare for this by putting prized possessions away in a safe place, leaving out only those items with which they are willing to take their chances. As with human children, foster parents must be there to supervise and intervene if necessary.
Foster parents are expected to bathe and diaper their monkeys (while out of their cage) on a daily basis. Advice is provided to encourage monkeys to return to their cages for pottying. However, as with children and other animals, monkeys will have potty accidents.
The main activity room of the foster home should have space for a large cage, so that whether in or out of the cage, the monkey is still a part of the family's activities. The cage requires regular cleaning, and the papers under the cage must be changed daily. Foster parents must be willing and able to purchase a cage from Helping Hands. The cage will be shipped directly to the foster home when adoption plans are appropriate.
Foster parents are required to comply with Helping Hands' guidelines for behavior and care during the foster family period. They agree to provide feedback on their monkey's development to Helping Hands by recording daily weight and nutrition measurements for monthly reporting, making status update telephone calls every three months, and completing a Behavioral Status Form up to twice a year. They must also have access to (or be willing to rent) a video camera at least once a year to make a 15-minute tape demonstrating required behaviors, such as bathing, diapering, filing nails, and cuddling.
Foster parents must be willing to return the monkey when Helping Hands determines that this is necessary. This can be very difficult. Foster families invest time, energy, and love in caring for their foster monkey. The primary comfort for foster parents is the knowledge that the monkey will eventually go to a disabled person who will live out his or her life with more freedom, independence, and companionship because of this special friend. It is the gift of part of one's self.
Initiating the Application Process
Foster Homes are currently being accepted on the East Coast. First consideration will be given to homes in the Boston area.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent and can meet the requirements listed above, please write a letter to Helping Hands including the following topics:
- Why you wish to become a foster parent
- A description of your pet history
- The number of people in your household and their ages (please be sure to indicate the name and age of the person who is applying to be the primary foster parent)
- If you work outside of the home, give detailed information on your work schedule including days and hours, and information on any other people who may spend time with your monkey while you are at work
- If you work at home, give detailed information on the type of work you do and the number of hours per day that you spend working
- Please include any medical/healthcare experience you may have
- Please let us know if you have any medical condition you feel would be positively affected by having a monkey
All letters will be reviewed for eligibility and Helping Hands will contact all applicants. Send the letter to:
Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the DisabledFoster Home Applications
541 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02134
Please note: this letter is the required first step in the application process, and must include all the information outlined above. Your application cannot be initiated by telephone.
We sincerely appreciate the extent of the commitment you are willing to make, and we thank you for your support.
Permitting and State Regulations
Many states in the United States require special permitting/licensing for exotic animals, including capuchin monkeys that are living and working as service animals. Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, Inc. strictly follows state by state guidelines and our staff will work with accepted recipients and foster homes to acquire proper permitting for their area. Helping Hands believes in this need for strict permitting guidelines and will not under any circumstances place a monkey in a new home without approval from the state.