MOOERS -- Theresa Johnson's family, pieced together over time, has become a perfect fit.

The Mooers Forks woman has five children, grown up now; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

She's been foster mom to at least 50 youngsters.

"I'm still in touch with a lot of them," she said.

And Johnson and her fiance, James Fields, through the Sunmount DDSO Family Care Program, have also made a home for Lyle Jock, 72; Cheryl Opal, 54; and Diana Brady, 50; and her 13-year-old son, Matthew Roman.

"I heard about (the program) through family and friends, and it all sounded like good things," Johnson said.

She loves it.

WELL REGULATED

Family Care places people with developmental challenges -- such as mental retardation, autism and neurological impairments -- with loving families, said Sunmount Nurse Administrator Robin LaBarge.

The program, she said, is part of "a statewide initiative to bring developmentally disabled people into smaller homes or into family homes."

At one time, she said, all one had to do was to hang up a shingle and call it a home. Today, the provider must be New York state-certified and follow many rules and regulations.

Johnson and Fields's modest and comfortable home underwent considerable remodeling to make it suitable for the program.

They put in a hallway upstairs and made other changes to provide more privacy. They had to extend a small kitchen porch to make more space for dining.

Jock was the first to join the family, in 1999. Next, in 2001, came Brady and her son; Opal joined them the following year.

"I love James and Theresa and our relationship with them," said Opal, sitting at the kitchen table with the rest of the family.