Chandler foster dad finds journey challenging, rewarding
Courtesy of Christopher Massop Jr.
Christopher Massop Jr. takes a photo with his nephew. He said becoming a foster parent has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in his life.
Courtesy of Christopher Massop Jr.
Christopher Massop Jr. said becoming a foster parent has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in his life.
On Father’s Day earlier this month, Christopher Massop Jr. had a lot to reflect on as a foster parent.
“It’s very demanding, but also very rewarding,” Massop Jr. said. “Everyone needs love and everyone needs a safe place and a home — especially children.”
The Chandler man embarked on what would be a life-changing journey as a parent after a set of circumstances led to him to become a foster father to his nephew in what’s called a “kinship foster.”
While the process to becoming that kind of foster differs some from what the Arizona Department of Child Safety, it’s still exhaustive, Massop Jr. said. He thanks the organization Arizona’s Children Association for helping go through the licensing and qualification process.
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is a uniform law intended to standardize procedures to ensure suitable placement. Massop Jr. said until recently, with so many Arizona children needing fosters, it wouldn’t have been possible for a would-be parent to adopt an out-of-state child _— even a blood relative.
Massop Jr. said there were so many things he didn’t know about the specific requirements and procedures for interstate adoption placements. Some, such as a requirement that the child’s home be hooked up to municipal, rather than well water, weren’t an immediate concern to him, but other requirements led to big adjustments.
“I was a bachelor who drove around in a sports car, but they want you to have, like, an SUV or a vehicle that’s suitable to driving a child around safely,” he said.
Massop Jr. said there are hundreds of safety requirements around the home, such as adequate fencing and gating around a swimming pool and keeping a home up to all current health and safety codes.
Massop Jr., who works for the U.S. Postal Service, said interstate adoptions also involve heavy travel. He said the nephew he adopted was living in Connecticut, so that required multiple 2- or 3-week-long trips from Arizona to ensure he’d gotten to know his adoptee well enough.
It was important to have everything planned out as much as possible, ranging from the preschool the nephew’s in now to elementary school plans and daycare.
“That’s OK, because I’m really a 5-year-plan kind of guy,” Massop Jr. said. “I like being able to give a young person stability in their life.”
Massop Jr. said some adjustments in becoming a parent for the first time have been easier than others.
“Watching cartoons is fun, as that Rugrats intro sounds super familiar,” Massop Jr. said. “But there’s potty training and learning boundaries. And you need to be there for them all the time. You can’t just go out in the evening, like a bachelor would. You have to plan everything ahead.”
Massop Jr. said he didn’t even have a dog before. He said that’s a long way from being someone’s “foundational moral compass” and providing for their basic needs.
“It’s beautiful, though,” he said. “It’s so fulfilling. There are a lot of ‘core’ moments. A child is the most beautiful kind of blank slate, discovering so many new things about the world, all of the time.”
Massop Jr. said he knows what it’s like to grow up without two biological parents at home. That especially hits home for some people around Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
“That macaroni art a kid makes, that’s supposed to be for Mom or Dad, is really for Uncle, or Grandpa, or Auntie,” he said. “It’s tough if that’s all you have. Some folks are fortunate to have Mom and Dad and all that other family. Hopefully, I’m mentoring him well.”
Massop Jr. said being a single father isn’t easy; he reaches out for help often.
“It really does take a village,” he said.
Massop Jr. said he became a parent partly out of an “innate duty,” but also to be on the side of positive forces in the world.
“A child should get a hug just because the sun is out,” he said. “We’re at a pivotal point in world history. We need to give a lot of love.”
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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