Recently the AP reported that for the first time in more than 10 years, foster care numbers rose slightly in 2013 and more sharply last year. We should be unsettled by this news, which you can read in full here. But how can we respond?
First, these numbers should break our hearts. More than 415,000 children are in limbo, waiting to see where their future will go. Of those, 108,000 are available for adoption and waiting for a family to say yes to them as a son or daughter. Yet for more than 22,000 kids in 2013, that day never came as they aged out of foster care as adults without a family of their own. If those numbers weren’t hard enough, 14% of children in foster care live in group homes instead of foster family. And 4,500+ foster children are unaccounted for as runaways, unable to deal with life in foster care but who knows what they are going through now that they are on their own and particularly vulnerable to child trafficking and other dangers.
But more than breaking our hearts, these numbers should move us to action. If one family from every three churches committed to adopt one child and those three churches committed to support that family, there wouldn’t be children waiting to be adopted in foster care. Sure, there would still be temporary placements and other similar constructs, but the foster care system as we know it would be destroyed.
By the church.
Imagine that. Imagine if the church was known more for reflecting Christ like that instead of reflecting hate or intolerance. Imagine if we called families to adopt or foster and rallied around them as they say yes, with the support of one or more area churches, knowing they may need reinforcements and respite as they do battle with their children against previous traumas and fear triggers. Imagine that.
Better than just imagining, though, engage with ministries who are working to make that a reality. Some include The Forgotten Initiative, ALL IN Orphan Care, Tapestry, and The Hope & Healing Institute. If you know of others, no matter how large or small scale or how local or global the efforts, please leave a comment on this post or our Facebook page to share who they are and what they do. We’d love to share the good work being done by others in the kingdom of God!
In addition to serving as a Key Ministry Church Consultant, Shannon Dingle is a co-founder of the Access Ministry at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC.
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Check out Shannon Dingle’s blog series on adoption, disability and the church. In the series, Shannon looked at the four different kinds of special needs in adoptive and foster families and shared five ways churches can love their adoptive and foster families. Shannon’s series is a must-read for any church considering adoption or foster care initiatives. Shannon’s series is available here.
Church4EveryChild 
We are a ministry based in Muskegon, MI. We support foster/adoptive/kinship families and work with churches to recruit more families. We provide cothing closets free of charge to foster/kinship families and we also provide support groups to these families living it right now! We are passionate about involving christian families to step up and provide families and safe homes for these children in need!!
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Amy,
Your ministry (Kids Belong) appears to be doing great work in Western Michigan! Thanks for sharing!
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I agree churches need to be involved. Foster does a terrible job letting people even know about these kids. We spend more effort on selling a can of beans than finding these children homes. We are in process of adopting our fifth child. I have built a educational website on the plight of foster children. The site is http://www.crusadefortheinvisiblefosterchild.com . You will have to forgive the sites flaws I am truly an amateur. I will take any suggestions on how to improve it.
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Fostering Faithful Families is an organization in St. Louis that recruits and supports foster parents through local chapters at area churches. Childrens Home Society of Missouri cares for special needs children in the foster care system and raises money by accepting donations of household items and selling them. They pick them up from your home. http://www.chsmo.com
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Liza,
Thanks for sharing!
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Excellant article…we r foster parents and have adopted 2 fostering a little girl now. Would love to do more. Keep us informed!!! We r called to action!!
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Hi Victoria,
Awesome. Delighted to hear of your faithful service!
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This does not provide ideas for how individual churches are supposed to help a family within their body that has adopted from foster care. I adopted several kids from foster care, but I personally don’t know what to tell my church pastor what they should do to help my family. It is a very lonely issue because we don’t know what to ask for and the church does not know what to offer.
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Keith,
This is Dr. G. I thought the graphic in Shannon’s post offered a number of useful suggestions that would be much appreciated by foster/adoptive families I know. What are some of the most immediate needs you and your family are experiencing. What would help you guys the most on a day to day basis?
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Keith, I read the graphic, and would love for someone to offer respite, grocery shopping, babysitting, etc. Our eldest is a charming, polite, and well-mannered child to outsiders, yet a monster to us. And, we do NOT have it as bad as some. Some children have lived trauma that makes them almost unable to coexist with other children.
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If you dont know how the church can help you or thr children, think just a bit…with kids you always need clothes, if they are under age maybe a night or 2 you can have them help as babysitters to give you a couple of hours of away time.. sometimes just a get together with friends for an outing….with the kids…maybe sometimes, if needed, a donation if you get in a pinch…think of your daily things…
My husband and I took on 2 girls when they were 3&5, it was hard considering we had raised boys… alot different, that was 12 years ago..its all worth it…these 2 are growing up to be Good Adults with a like… not a looser…
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Did you notice the diagram? The church wraps around the family by providing goods and services.
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Other areas of help needed: tutoring, counseling, helping renovate a home for adoption (some agencies require basement egresses), etc…
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Thanks Heather!
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It is imperative that ALL are educated, responsible and committed before bringing children into the world. This would elevate so many children in Foster Care. Currently, my husband and I are going through the grueling process to get approved to adopt. We feel that we should step up and try to make a difference for at least one child.
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Hi Sue,
Thanks for your faithfulness in pursuing this ministry! God is honored by your family’s willingness to go through the process of adopting.
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My husband and I have 4 boys (biologically) and are in the process of adopting 2 more from foster care. Yes, we now have 6 boys and couldn’t be happier. Hubby thinks we will adopt a few girls next but we will see where God leads us.
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Hi Robin,
Thanks for posting! Trust that ALL involved will be richly blessed!
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Home Forever in Long Beach, CA.
By the way, families from our modestly-sized church (about 450 adults on Sunday mornings) will finalize between 11 and 15 adoptions in a single twelve month period from May of this year until May of next year.
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John…fabulous job by the people of your church! Thanks for the link.
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Royal family kids camp. Exclusively for foster children. Wonderful program and organization. Google is and be sure to watch the movie “Camp”.
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Faith,
Awesome camp! Thanks for sharing. Do you mean this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFSkaU3hCjs
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Our church had a ministry called Roots, we have 5-6 families that foster or have adopted and we get together monthly. The support system for the small group is incredible, they provide respite while we meet, there is a team that provides meals for two weeks upon new placement. So awesome to be blessed to be a part of this ministry.
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Tremendous! Thanks for responding, David!
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The Care Portal (through the Global Orphan Project) – a really neat way for local churches to meet needs in their own communities (helping foster parents, social workers, etc.with specific requests/needs)!
Also “Resource”in St. Louis – clothing and more for foster parents.
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Thanks for posting Rachel!
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Orphan Care Alliance (OCA) based in Louisville, KY!
Mission statement: “Orphan Care Alliance equips Christians and connects them to opportunities to care for fatherless children.”
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Amanda,
Looks great! Hope to see you next month at our event in Louisville!
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What is the name of the event you will be at?
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An Inclusive Children’s Ministry Conference…hosted by the Kentucky UMC Annual Conference on Children’s and Family Ministry. Saturday, November 7th at Christ Church. Registration is free.
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KOINONIA FAMILY SERVICES! Carson, CA — Mediating the hectic Los Angeles County foster care system for families that CARE!
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With the current collapse of society I don’t think the foster care system will be destroyed any time soon. Your goal though is right on and could be expanded beyond the numbers you suggest if people would be willing. Awareness is key. My wife and I have been foster parents for over 20 years and have adopted 6. Our daughter and son in law have now been foster parents for several years and have one adoption finalizing soon and another probable after that. We have an elderly lady also in our church who did foster care and her foster daughter also attends. Another couple in our church who have two biological children are in the process of adopting. We are not even a big church (under 50 people) It can be done ,and what a blessing !
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Crossroads NOLA in New Orleans, LA. This ministry began out of First Bsptist New Orleans and is now it’s own non-profit. Don’t have a lot of details, but connection can be made through http://www.fbno.org
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https://www.facebook.com/SkookumKids?fref=ts is a new non-profit that is doing a great job in Washington State.
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I discovered this organization at a pro-life event and I hope to learn more about them!
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Sorry I managed to put the link as my name..oops. it is http://www.beautyamidsttheashes.com/
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Check out Safe Families.
http://www.safe-families.org/
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I would add to this list that the church needs to be non-judgemental. So many of our kids, out of the foster system, have emotional and behavioral issues. I have seen numerous families destroyed when they were asked not to bring those children to church. Unless someone has walked in there shoes, they have no idea how much fear, trauma and PTSD our kids have. Parents who take this on need love and acceptance not judgement. Their children do not have melt downs because the foster or adoptive parents don’t give enough discipline. They are simply trying to adjust in a world that initially failed them. Instead of judging, wrap your arms around them, tell them they are doing a good job and that you know it is hard.
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Thanks Mom of Many…
We’re developing and publishing resources around this topic so that churches might be better prepared to serve kids with needs common to kids who end up being placed in the foster care system. Search the blog under either Shanon’s name or foster care and you’ll find lots more.
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There are a couple of organizations here in Arkansas that are doing some AMAZING work helping to recruit, train, and support foster and adoptive families. Check them out:
The CALL (Children of AR Loved for a Lifetime): http://thecallinarkansas.org/
Project Zero: http://theprojectzero.org/
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We are doing everything we can as a para-church ministry to support foster and adoptive families in East Alabama. We will actually be taking 24 families and over 70 kids on a family beach retreat next weekend as one of our annual events. We believe in connecting the needs of foster and adoptive families with the generosity of the community through the love of Jesus Christ. It’s all about providing resources and building relationships. Please check us out to learn more- this is a passion of ours to engage and unify our entire community to join in support for foster and adoptive families. http://www.ourbighouse.org. Since starting this organization during our senior year of college 6.5 years ago we have served over 10,000 kids in Alabama’s foster care system through various programs.
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Project Belong in KS
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Promise 686 in Georgia is doing fantastic things! They have a great model for Care Communities (filling most of the roles in the graphic above) that surround a foster family to give them the support they need to foster well and for longer. Our church in Augusta has recently partnered with them and we are getting ready to launch our first two Care Communities this month. There are other churches in our area at different stages in this process as well. http://www.livethepromise.org
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TruLight127 is an amazing organization working to shed truth and light into the world of hurting children. To show God’s love to hurting children and families through empowering and equipping churches and individuals to move in God’s call in James 1:27 to care for the orphans. They are based in the greater San Antonio area and God is moving through them here!
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RADical Healing through the Love of Christ is trying to help support parents with children who have suffered trauma and ended up with Reactive Attachment Disorder. We also try to support young adults who are on the road to recovery from such difficult childhoods.
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Safe Families for Children
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We are fostering 5 and the state of Tn does not help us in any way. This is why people do not foster.
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We are aiming at having the church destroy Foster care in Colorado!
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Thank you for your article. I found it very encouraging. We are newly licensed foster parents. Sometimes it seems that when foster care comes up, people immediately assume adoption follows. But as a Christian, I believe that God is the ultimate healer and can bring reconciliation to any situation. I wish there was more help and support for the parents who have lost their kids and are trying to get back on track. While my heart breaks for each child we hear about coming into care, my heart is even more shattered for the parents and the choices they have made. I have two children of my own and I can’t even imagine having them taken from me. (Just in case my words came out wrong, I wanted to share that our family fully supports and encourages adoption).
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I strongly agree my children were taken into custody and I’m fighting for them they cry for me all the time they have been moved five times the church we attended took my kids in and the state toook them out bk they wasn’t approved foster homes I was a strong believer those aren’t my kids or the states they belong to the church.. I just wish I could get help and support instead of dfcs always kicking me when I’m down. I understand why my children were taken due to me using drugs I’m no longer using fifteen months in treatment I work I pray I attend church I have faith in God that some how some way I’ll get stability and have my kids back home caseplan complete except housing and a unpaid power bill
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check out youthrive.org. It is a new nonprofit in Kansas City working with kids transitioning out of foster care.
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Anyone interested in Christian foster care should look into The Bair Foundation. I have worked here for 5 years. We have offices all across the US and focus on therapeutic foster care. Many of our foster parents adopt the children placed in their home. Please check out the website and contact me for more information. http://www.bair.org
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What a great way to cast a vision! I’ve been a volunteer for the crisis pregnancy arm of the 4Kids of South Florida ministry. It started as a small vision and church outreach and has become its own non-profit organization with a 24hr emergency shelter for kids pulled out of homes deemed unsafe by DCF, residential homes, the crisis pregnancy residential and after care programs, foster family training, licensing & support, adoption agency, and residential/training programs for kids when they age out of the system to help them get a good start in life.
It’s not only become the model of foster care for broward county seeing an incredible co-op between churches and government agencies but the entire state of Florida has adopted some of the model to the state-wide foster system; several other states have also adopted the model although I don’t know which ones.
Here’s their website: http://www.4kidsofsfl.org/
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As if it is that easy to adopt through the foster care system. My sister in law has been trying for 3 years now. Every time they give that baby back to the bio parent at the great expense of the child. Dyfs has outright lied to her every time saying how likely it is that the bio mom will lose her rights. My heart breaks as I have seen her heart torn out time and again. Even more so for the babies who loved her and were so loved and safe and were removed and put into a life of uncertainty and even danger. How can the church do this when the system is so corrupt and broken?
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My family’s most immediate need is health insurance that covers the rest of us, including mental health. It is a STRESSFUL job, parenting these kids, and it is an unusual couple that does not need some counseling, now and then while raising these challenging kids. There are also often therapies for the kids that are not covered by medicaid or insurance, we pay ALOT of stuff out of pocket. THOUSANDS of dollars every year. In our family we also need general health insurance, particularly dental that covers more than… well, almost nothing. It makes me sick, when my adopted kids get better care on MEDICAID than what we are able to provide the birth children on the lousy insurance we can afford with my husband being self employed – he makes too much for any of the subsidized plans and the others would wipe us out – we are on the Christian bill paying one, but they don’t cover mental health, which is really the only service we need (other than the dental!) I really think the states should cover the ENTIRE family on medicaid, (or at least make it available, if the families don’t have anything better through their workplace) Perhaps the Christian Care programs ought to provide a reduced rate plan for families with foster/adopt kids that DOES cover mental health… Or perhaps a network of providers willing to provide greatly reduced rates, on services these families need. We live near Nashville, surely there is a dentist SOMEWHERE in Nashville that would be willing to help us out!!!
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I agree. My husband is blind and gets medicaid. Our adopted son gets medicaid and our 7 foster kiddos have medicaid. I have nothing. I need new glasses and a good teeth cleaning but cant afford either. But I am thankful that medicaid in MO has taken care of most of my family’s needs without any problems.
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Thanks for commenting. Access to mental health care for kids and families is another HUGE problem. In our state, Medicaid is almost always preferable to private insurance for kids with complicated mental health concerns because it pays for a continuum of care that doesn’t fit into the medical model upon which insurance is based. The downside is that the quality can be quite variable and waiting lists for services are often very long.
Dental schools often have clinics offering low-cost care or sliding scare fees. Does Meharry or Vanderbilt have a dental clinic in Nashville?
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Yes, there are a few ! I’ll find the other one also.
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Wait No More is the initiative supported by focus on the family to help foster kids ready for adoption find their forever families. They put on local events so check the website for an event near you. There is one in Seattle on October 17.
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http://orphancarealliance.org
…learned about this organization after a visit to my son’s church near Louisville KY…
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Cherish Kids, a ministry of James River Assembly in Ozark, MO
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Orphan Care Solutions is a non-profit organization based out of Montgomery County, Texas. It is a colaborration of over 120 area churches all bringing transactional and transformational solutions to the fatherless.
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LIFE program for mentoring youth ages 13-16 in Kansas also KVC Families Of Faith
http://Www.kvc.org
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Yep except not all children are Christian… and of Christians were the answer this wouldn’t be the problem. What about kids with severe disabilities, severe trauma background, LGBT kids? Are those churches going to take them?
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Hi Scott,
I’m the editor of the blog. You’re certainly welcome to question and challenge any of us who write here, but if you knew a little more about Shannon (the author of this post), you might be less skeptical.
Shannon has been a champion of the most vulnerable kids in society for many, many years. She’s a special education teacher by training who started her career teaching underprivileged kids in South Texas. After she and her husband married and started their family in North Carolina, they felt led to adopt kids with severe special needs. They sold their house to purchase one that could be more accessible to kids with significant disabilities. They adopted four children, including several with special needs. One of her kids is HIV-positive, and Shannon is one of the leading advocates for inclusion of kids with HIV in the American church. She and her husband launched a ministry through their church to welcome and include children and families impacted by disability in every aspect of life in the church.
Her family doesn’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. You’d be impressed if you had the chance to get to know them. Many of the other folks who have posted links here are seeking to do the same. Lots of churches can and ARE taking them.
FWIW, I served for six years as clinical director of an organization that operated a large foster care network in Ohio, and served as Medical Director for the primary children’s mental health center in a large Ohio county, so I’m pretty familiar with the foster care system. Kids don’t end up IN the foster care system unless they’ve been abandoned, neglected or abused, and at least in our area, every effort is made to place them with a family member before they’re sent outside of their neighborhood or culture. As a clinician, I’ve seen firsthand how some parents do foster care for the wrong reasons, but why impugn Christians for seeking to make the world a better place and live in accordance with their faith for kids who often experience very profound manifestations of trauma? Is it too hard to believe that people can be self-sacrificing and acting out of genuine concern for others?
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Editor of the Blog,
My name is not Scott. I was not commenting on Shannon or her family. I am commenting on the oversimplification of an issue. That is wonderful that a person who also identifies as Christian has done their part to take in and foster/ adopt children.
The problem that I have is that foster children come from all walks of life. ALL people, not just self congratulating Christians should be considered as the solution for fostering and adoption. This article does nothing to highlight the realities and plight of children. It serves Christian self righteousness and a lack of understanding of the foster system.
Children and their families should be the focus of the foster care discussion. This article does not distinguish the difficult and heartbreaking process that is foster care and from adoption. Adoption and foster care are NOT the same and the is not well articulated at all. I am well aware as to the reason children are brought in to custody and the reasons they are reintegrated or not. I am a foster/adoptive parent and have worked in the foster care system.
Children in foster care and the system are a symptom of the problem. By not addressing issues like minimum wage, social support programs, abortion, broken court systems, and racism and then wondering why all of these children end up in this system is completely infuriating. It is difficult to read articles that focus on championing people who don’t understand the problem. Yes, maybe Shannon and her family have done something wonderful– but framing this as a Christian fixer upper program is extremely harmful. I have personally met some spectacular foster and adoptive homes that are from all religious backgrounds. BUT being a Christian should absolutely be touted as something that makes you inherently more special or able to care for a child who has been traumatized. I am sick of the rhetoric and self righteous behavior.
Some of the worst behaved foster homes I have encountered have been Christians. I am not saying that all Christians are terrible or bad a fostering, but honestly Christian doctrine does not align will helping a lot of these children. Where is the Christian compassion and wishing for a better world when these children’s biological families are struggling. Why not focus your energy and resources on prevention with that info graphic??
And again I ask about children who are of a different religion, what about trans children, what about Lesbian and Gay children?
As you can see I am just so frustrated with this blog post. I think it does so much harm to children that I care about. If there are so many out there doing this work then where are they for the ten teenagers I had on my caseload last year? They were no where to be found. We need real solutions, not puff pieces about how good it will make YOU feel. I don’t see true altruism in this movement.
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This is self appreciating. How About Helping families? Not all children in custody are available for adoption. In fact the goal is to reintegrate to their home. Many children are in custody for issues related to poverty. This is a disempowering way to help these children. Also children age out because people including Christians opt for children under seven.
Also, the Christian initiative is offensive. If you have actually had experience with the foster system you know you have to respect the child’s religious and cultural background regardless of your belief system. Another example of Christians conditionally fixing the world through a narrow and selfish lens. Its not so you can complete your family. Foster care is meant to support someone else’s family unit. Luckily I’ve met very few Christians who actually follow through on their rhetoric- just preech it incessantly and pat each other on the back.
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I’m sorry you’re so angry. Someone must have hurt you very badly. I will pray for you.
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Beltway Park in Abilene TX has support for those who adopt and foster.
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Shannon – I’m a mental health provider in private practice who has worked within the child services system for years. I would love to help as I try my best to help heal the broken parts of kids and families. Please call ke if I can help.
Amy
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Me! Lol We adopted 2 children from foster care in California in June!
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Safe Families For Children is a Christian organization operating in 30 states and Canada which provides safe homes for kids whose parents voluntarily place them there short term rather than loose custody to the state. They then recieve the support and tools they need to be able to care for their kids again.
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Safe Families for Children is working in NW Washington, and in Cali too, I believe. They take voluntary placements of children from families who don’t want their kids to end up in foster care. Maybe the parents are going to jail, need rehab, are temporarily homeless. They work with the whole family.
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Let’s just say that there are many many churches out there that have no idea how to really help families who have adopted. We adopted (not out of foster care – that process was way.too.complicated) internationally and it was a very hard two years for us initially. You can only beg and plead for help so much before you just give up because that just takes up precious energy.
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Beth,
We’re trying to help resource churches to better support families like yours. Search the blog for Shannon’s posts on adoption.
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Check out this ministry in Los Angeles. They encourage and equip churcj families to get involved in the foster care system to foster and adopt. Kids are adopted by their forever families at a rate a not 5 times the average. Our family is one such family. My son is 11 now, he came to us at 2 months. We also fostered 2 more kids that were older and not available for adoption that are grown now and still call our house HOME. Thank you for putting into print what I have believed foe a long time. Keep pushing and praying. Blessings will abound.
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Kandis…what ministry in Los Angeles? Do you have a link?
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Check out http://www.cherishkids.org which is a ministry of James River Church in Ozark, MO!
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Our church is part of Safe Families for Children. Safe-families.org – it’s nationwide and it is a beautiful picture of how the Church should be acting on behalf of these littles and their families 🙂
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We are in the kinship program. My husband and I are early 30s and have a child of our own. In 2011 we received a call from CPS stating that my husband’s father had another child with a woman who was addicted to heroin. This woman had 9 kids total but the baby had died because she was so high she fell asleep and rolled on top of it. She never even went to jail or questioned. All the kids were eventually put in foster care. My father in law was in jail for DUIs. So we become parents to a teenage boy. Although we would not have it any other way, its been tough. Not only with money but emotional support, house issues, and everyday stuff. Child protective services are overwhelmed here in Houston and every month we have a new worker. I have lost track of the names! A program like this would really help all of us out there that are trying to do what God wants us to do, what we want to give to this child. A loving home and the knowing of family, love. Programs like these are amazing and would love if my church would jump on this wagon!
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This is very sad to me! I was a foster child. I went in the system when I was 11 years old. I later became available for adoption. But I never got adopted😒 I aged outta the system with just my biological grandma. If she didn’t stick by my side and keep fighting for me I would have had no one. My grandmother wanted me to live with her but children and youth said she was to old! She was in excellent shape for being 51. I was in probably 11 homes and 1 group home. Multiple schools, new family’s, and new friends. It’s not easy being bounced around all the time. Matter of fact it sucked!! But the one foster family was in their early 60s!! So why wasn’t my gram good enough to have me? Did they lie destroying my childhood and making me feel unwanted? Like I don’t get it and never will.. But I can say that God has blessed me! I am a mommy to 3 beautiful babies and I have a great fiancé!!! I may not have always made the best decisions. But, no one is perfect!! I thank god for everything I have at 26!! God is truly amazing!!
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Hi Kimberly,
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m sorry you were deprived the opportunity of living with your grandmother.
My wife’s grandmother served as a foster parent for fifty years. When I knew her, she was limited to caring for infants and toddlers because of health concerns (her ability to lift and transport kids), but she loved and cared for many kids through her 70s. There’s no reason I can think of (aside from health) that more “seasoned” Christians can’t serve effectively in foster care.
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thank you
Fantastic blog
Good luck to you
_)(*(*(*
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My husband and I have wanted to foster and adopt children for many years. It was so much a part of our plan that we took permanent action to prevent us from having any more biological children. I am waiting patiently on the Lords timing in this. We are not eligible to foster care in our stare because of two new regulations this year. One being that you can’t have more than four total children under the age of 13. And another that you can’t have more than six children total. With these regulations it will be at least four years before we can do foster care. This is very hard for me to accept but I am praying about what to do in the meantime. I was thinking of looking into what support systems were in place for the foster parents in our area and trying to help out there.
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Great article! We have adopted 10 children. In the beginning our church was our greatest supporter. Many times they held our hands and prayed with us. We moved about 20 years ago & are unable to find a church. But our friends from the old church still lift us up in prayer! Our children range in ago from 25 to 6. They all have Down Syndrome
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Awesome!
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Liberty Adoption Advocates provides financial assistance to adopting families needing help with adoption fees for attorneys or agencies.
Also, The Children’s Law Center of Washington provides legal representation to adopting families in Washington state.
The Refresh Conference is a fantastic source of support and encouragement to adopting families and foster families. The conference is every year in February, at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington.
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Were a fostering family with hopes of adopting the two we have, a support system like this would be amazing. But I know of none where we’re at.
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I am a foster mom and an adoptive mom of three wonderful children. I am also on the Orphan Care Committee at our church. This is a wonderful article and is just the thing we are looking for to use at our presentation on Orphan Sunday. Is there someone I could contact to get permission to copy this article and put it into our church mailboxes? Thank you so much for all the work you do!
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Heather,
Send me an e-mail (steve@keyministry.org) and I’ll connect you with Shannon. I suspect she’d be thrilled to have your church share her post for Orphan Sunday… November 8, 2015.
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Thanks for addressing this topic. Liberty Bible Church in Chesterton, IN has a monthly meetings . It is fantastic. They provide child care and participants can earn training hours. Attendees are part from different agencies and different churches. This is a picture of the church supporting families in the communities.
Faith Bridge Foster Care in Georgia is another resource. I heard Bill Hancock speak at a foster care/ adoption conference. He was very good.
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Great article. 🙂
We are My Father’s Arrows. We serve NW Florida and SE Alabama through community education, recruitment, advocacy, and support. We are in conceptual development of a children’s home. So nice to see so many of us working together for these kids!
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I’m so glad you posted on here, Sarah. A friend shared this article on Facebook and I was scrolling through to make sure that My Father’s Arrows was listed!
My husband and I finished the training and we’re now just waiting to be inspected so we can foster! 😀
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Thank you for highlighting God’s heart and the churches call. I run a fairly young non-profit in the Central Valley of Califirnia called City Without Orphans. We partner and equip churches, families and social service providers so that every child in our local Foster care system is placed in a loving home. We focus on awareness and advocacy, mobilization of the churches, recruitment and education for foster care and adoption, as well as post-placement support.
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http://www.citywithoutorphans.com
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Safe Families for Children works to prevent kids from entering the system in the first place. Christian families practice Biblical hospitality by welcoming kids in crisis into their homes temporarily while the parents seek stability. It’s amazing and can definitely change the foster care system. The organization works through local churches and is growing nationwide. http://www.safe-families.org
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Orphan Care Solutions of Texas began in Montgomery, Texas with 3 churches and now have over 125 active member churches working in collaboration on many real problems that face our community’s foster care children including recruitment of foster, adoptive, respite families, mentors, CASA advocates, … As well as addressing the needs of aging out Foster youth trough transitional housing and launch programs … And volunteer opportunities in collaboration together with the State CPS and private child placing agencies.
We know not everyone is called to foster or adopt, but we believe we are all called to do SOMETHING! Check them out at http://www.OrphanCareSolutions.com
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Orphan Care Solutions of Texas has been recognized by the State of Texas for it’s most successful collaboration of The Church and the state … And is also being recognized in Washington DC for the collaborative efforts and success.
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The CALL Arkansas
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Rachel Ashcraft – Foster The Children-Alabama
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My wife and I have fostered for the past six years. While I agree with you whole-heatedly that as The Church, we should be ready and willing to ‘step in the gap’ for kids in the foster care “system”.
However, another stark reality that we have encountered is that the “system” is often a quasi-government system or agency. What I have realized over the years is that no matter how well-intentioned we may be, the “system” seems to be set up to perpetuate itself. Obviously, the system is not to blame for the injustices that occur for far too many innocent children in our society. Yet, in our state anyway, the state’s goal is the reunification of families. This can be an appropriate goal, but often this seems to lead to endless case loads for often inexperienced social workers. And we have seen infants in the system, who would be adopted by any number of loving families, that have been trapped in what seems like an endless cycle of court cases and family permanacy hearings. I wonder how many that age-out over the years are in-and-out due to no fault of their own, but for the continued attempts to reunify with birth families.
I was delighted to see our very first placement at her birthday party this past weekend at her grandmother’s house, yet a bit saddened by the fact that the birth mother, after losing parental rights, is still involved in every aspect of this child’s life.
So I agree that we need to be HIS hands and feet to care for those in desperate need. But I would also call for us to be loving enough to call out in truth for changes that may need to occur in the “brokenness” of the foster and adoptive care ‘system’ as well.
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The CALL in Arkansas — recruiting, training, and supporting foster and adoptive families and engaging volunteers. The CALL is a tool for the church to serve the modern day orphan in foster care in Arkansas.
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Our family and a handful of church families are involved with “Safe Families”. It is a Christian program (through Bethany Christian Services) that reaches out to give a safe and loving home to kids who otherwise may end up in foster care. It’s a hand up for the bio parent(s) who may be on the brink of loosing their kid(s) to the system. It’s a short term fix where the parent(s) can get their footing and be reunited with their kid(s)! We are able to pray over the parents, kids, and situation. Parents may need help for a day or a month. We are here to serve and keep families together as much as possible!
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonahs-Journey/319174611619427
Jonah’s Journey is a caregiver program in middle TN.
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My parents were foster parents for about 5/6 years and adopted 5 kids from Foster Care.
My grandma was a foster parent for about 8years and has adopted 3 kids.
My aunt has adopted 2 kids.
All from Foster care in the US
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Arrow Child and Family Ministries is providing Christian foster care and adoption services in Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Oklahoma. http://WWW.Arrow.org
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We are faith based transitional home for teens between 18-22 that have aged out of the foster care system. We strive to connect the local Church, State, and community in providing these youth with a safe place to develop life skills, job skills and life long positive relationships. Our model is to start a new home located near and anchored by, a church that will surround that home and those youth that live their with uncondinal love and and do life with them as Jesus has instructed His Church to do. Blessings!
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Safe Families for Children is an international organization working to deflect children from DCS custody and foster care. The model is about building relationships within the church, as the church body wraps around the host family and the biological family to make sure everyone’s needs are met. SFFC never takes custody of the children. The host parents co-parent with the biological parent as they work through whatever crisis requires them to seek help. The goal is to introduce a hurting world to Jesus and reunite the family, stronger than before.
http://www.safe-families.org/
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Just as a resource, Adoption at the Movies helps adoptive and foster families know whether a new movie might be triggering to their kids, or whether it might be an opportunity for a healing discussion. It’s my side project; my day job is working at a faith-rooted foster-adoption agency as a clinical supervisor. http://www.adoptionlcsw.com
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Check out Safe Families. It started in Chicago as a Christian ministry to reach families in crisis to prevent state intervention, and it is still growing. My husband and I are a Safe Family here in Oklahoma.
Blessings for all your work in this important ministry!
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As a Christian and foster parent I can say that this article is spot on. Bring a parent at all is hard. Being a foster/adoptive parent is 10x harder! Having a supportive community is so important for the entire family unit. Not having one is why so many foster families quit after a short time of fostering. Definitely going to pass this article on.
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Most people don’t realize there is a spiritual component to the trauma/rejection/bio family that affects the child and the adoptive family. My husband has a prayer ministry that works with those interested in addressing those issues. It can make a world of difference in adjustment!
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We created the *Building Forever Families* ministry at our church (Our Lady Queen of Peace, in Arlington, Virginia) to address the needs you mentioned. It’s great to see all the outreach and advocacy being done by your organization and others like you. Thanks for all you do!
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Thankful to hear these responses and to read the article. We have a heart for foster children which led us to adopt though we had a family of 4 already. Our small church in a small town in Arkansas has grown as more families take in foster children, have respite from within the congregation and some have adopted. It’s a joy and we have all shared in the GREAT challenge that bringing children from hard places into our home. I look forward when I have time reading some more of the articles of encouragement and insight offered. Blessings as we try to reach out to one child at a time.
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Keeping Kids Safe in Findlay, OH – http://www.keepingkidssafe.org/
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I love your article. My husband and I live in Colorado and we would LOVE to adopt. Sadly, we don’t have the money to go through an agency and we are having a hard time finding other avenues. Do you have any suggestions or connections that we could use to get the ball rolling on adopting without an agency?
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North American council of Adoptable Children Nacac.org is a good place to start. How to adopt? Subsidies ?
In CA we can go through our local social services for the county and do foster care. Plus there are private non-profit agencies who help the county with foster kids.
Good luck and may the Lord bless you for the want to parent these waiting children
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You will definitely want to check out the global orphan project and their ministry called Care Portal. Care portal connects the state to churches to fill the needs of foster families and families who would otherwise lose their children to the system. You can find the care portal at careportal.org.
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Ii would love to get this started in Missouri—any resources and advise to jump start this would be great!!!
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http://Www.Jonahsjourney.org
This ministry provides foster care to incarcerated women and homeless women. We are honored to be caretakers with them.
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Embrace Oregon is doing its best to do just this – help faith communities engage with the foster system. embraceoregon.org
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http://www.chosenmarathon.com – providing financial resources, mentoring & outreach to Christians adopting and taking care of the fatherless.
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kind of a weird way to ask for help… “destroyed by the church” is a pretty extreme statement. the Christian church seems to be targeted here… why are you not also addressing the church of Islam, Buddhists, etc? what’s funny is even if the foster care system were to disintegrate, it still would not have been destroyed by the church. it would be destroyed by the horrible parents that caused the situations that lead to their poor children to be left to fend for themselves in the first place. quit blaming people and organizations that are already helping and ask for more help from everyone as well as the church.
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I love this article! My husband and I share the same heart. We have started a non profit called Thrive Ministries. Our dual vision and hope is to come along side foster and adoptive families and give them support and encouragement. We also reach out to special needs communities and try and meet practical needs in special education classrooms. The church needs to stand up for the defenseless! Check out our website thriveministriesds.com
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My husband and I started a nonprofit in Ft Wayne, IN to help foster children and the families that take them in. We are called Fostering Hope for Children, Inc. Jer. 29:11. We are a new nonprofit but hoping to connect with all of Northeastern Indiana. We give clothes, shoes, new blankets, backpacks, school supplies, just to name a few things. We have many programs and are planning on more as we grow. We have been foster parents for 14 years and have adopted 3 children thru the system. They are truly a blessing!! Thank you for all you do. Great article!!
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If you want to know more of what we do please visit our web site at fhforc.com or find us on facebook.
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awesome. if church will receive the orphan like the Bible say will be more peace in the world. Look at Jesus church
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We just launched a non-profit that provides free clothing and supplies to newly placed foster and adoptive children in Oklahoma.
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Hi there. I am an adoptive parent of two internationally children. I wrote a book that I am hopeful will help many families. My Russian adopted daughter has Re-Active Attachment Disorder among other diagnosis due to early childhood trauma. We adopted her age 9 now 17 second grade learner. She lived in two orphanages from when she was 2 months until 9 years when we adopted her.
Book on kindle and Amazon
Loving Harder
Our Family’s odessy through adoption and Re-Active Attachment Disorder
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CASA is a organization where volunteers are the voice of the child in the court and foster system. I am involved with this organization and believe in it whole heartedly. The statistics show that a child with a CASA fares much better in the system than one without. We advocate for what is best for the child.
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Check out Embraceoregon.org. An excellent organization that connects caring individuals and families with vulnerable children in partnership with Department of Human Services Child Welfare.
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Also, check out http://www.patchourplanet.org. If you can’t engage church leaders, your efforts will likely stall or hit a ceiling. If you equip church leaders/pastors, the church will explode with care. The key is helping the church lead the effort under their own church’s vision. That’s what we do. We create custom orphan care strategies for church’s under their own vision. Church leaders get it. Advocates get involved. And the vulnerable children in every community benefit because the Church is responding. Great article.
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I just finished researching on writing about The Crossnore School for a recent blog I did (www.garbagebagsuitcase.com) and you can learn more about them and their new approach to foster care at http://www.thecrossnoreschool.org
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Hello, I was adopted as a newborn an have always wanted to adopted myself but the costs alone are to much. But something in my heart has always said this is something I must do. If there was help in my area indiana would be great. But even at church never heard of any help.
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Would love to visit. We are engaging churches to become a foster child champion! Thank you for all you are doing.
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http://www.safe-families.org
safe families is administered by different local groups in different areas. They come around struggling families to intervene by fostering informally to prevent the kids from ever landing in real foster care. This is a wonderful option for families with issues that stem from “the cycle” of poverty like lack of parenting skills and not being able to provide adequate childcare while working. It also works for parents who are committed to getting clean but need time in an inpatient facility or just away from the responsibility of children to make it happen, or when there is a medical issue but no family/kin support.
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CarePortal through The Global Orphan Project. Amazing work through churches to change the foster care system as we know it. Love to add them to your list 🙂
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http://www.homeswithhope.org
Homes with Hope is a Christian Child Placing Agency out of The Vineyard Church of Houston, training and licensing foster and adoptive families to care for abused, neglected and abandoned children from the Texas foster care system.
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Reblogged this on thefaithbusiness and commented:
This.
One family. One. One in every THREE churches.
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I so agree on every point. I have adopted 4 children and would have adopted more if I had more support from my church as described. I am financially OK but can not physically do any more in my day and my husband works long hours to support us.
I’d love to have someone mow for him.
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I remember reading this statistic many years ago. We have fostered many children. We had 3 biological children and then God led us to adopt 5 children ( 4 through the foster system) and are the current guardians of 2 more children ( that would have found themselves in foster). We know that “Gods grace is sufficient and in our weakness He is made strong” …. more than anything we want God to be glorified …..so we open our homes…..we open our arms….we are willing….we are obedient….but we are also tired! The suggestions you mentioned ( in the coming along side of those who foster or adopt) are very good and very helpful. For we are all called to help the orphan….but there are lots of ways ( if actually adopting/fostering) is not an option. Adoption/ foster can be a blessing all around….for the children….for the adoptive/foster parent….and for the church/ people supporting them……IF they all work together in partnership.
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I would adopt more if it were not for our system as it is. We love the kids, just cant handle the system and most workers. They do not have kids like ours but know everything
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Even though i am a minister in the church i really don’t know how to approach this, on the other hand i work for organization that support aged out foster kids called HOMES Inc in Broward county Florida if churches can partner with or even support organization like ours we can put a dent in this statistics, as a young men mentor coach they need our help,so am appealing to the church step up and come aboard let’s make a difference.
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I was adopted I have issues n my church don’t understand me and wonder y I am who I am my parents who adopted me were abusive and my dad molested me and no one listens n my mom abuse my brother n sisters and cys didn’t do nothing to them we need more ministries for adoptions n better parents
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Love Made Visible, Mosaic Church’s ministry helping children from hurt places http://www.lovemadevisible.com
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This brought me to tears! I am amazed at how God has brought people from all over the body to support me as I am a single mother and have taken in two children under Emergency Relative Placement. I am so encouraged be this post and my heart is overjoyed that I dont have to do this alone. 🙂 💖
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http://jemfriends.org/ is a ministry based out of Boise, Idaho which helps youth who age out of the foster case system to transition successfully into their new, independent life.
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4KIDS of South Florida! We are a faith based foster care agency working in 6 counties throughout South Florida. Our mission is to provide hope for children in crisis and our vision is to ensure there is a home for every child.
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Christian Alliance for Orphans
https://www.facebook.com/ChristianAllianceforOrphans/?fref=nf
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
https://www.facebook.com/DaveThomasFoundationforAdoption/?pnref=lhc
Beautiful Redemption
http://www.beautifulredemption.com/
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Thesething is I’ve fostered for about 8 years, I was lucky enough to get to adopt the first child in my care. I then had a sibling group of the for 3 yrs. And 9 months, social services told the Judge at the TPR hearing that I was going to adopt the three I had and another family was going to adopt the three siblings of the ones I had only tho get called into the office two weeks later to be told they had found a family to adopt all six together (they hadn’t even met then yet). The other family decided to fight in court as after three continuance they sent my three boys an hour and a half away. Later the other family won in court but mine were sadly not returned now they are living half way across the United States so they actually split the siblings up more. The other adoptive mother went through so much stress during court she got sick got a virus and passed away about a year later now the Dad is raising the three kids alone. Now I have a 5 yr. old I’ve had for 3 yrs. and 3 months they’re looking for an adoptive family for him and won’t let me adopt him either, they say they look for different things in foster and adoptive families I can’t even imagine what they mean by that, Social services doesn’t always know what’s best for these kids after all we’re the ones who have been with them 24/7. Feeling helpless.
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Journey Together is a multi-denominational Christian group that works to equip and serve those in orphan care weather it’s international, private, social services adoption or foster care. They are a wonderful group with monthly meetings who has seen a huge need in our local Charleston County, SC area for foster homes and support. They have partnered with local DSS offices, Seacoast Church and a private adoption agency (Lifeline) to get more families trained and licensed to foster.
We also need many changes to the system…we are ones of many families who have been approved for adoption from social services for over a year who has yet to even be contacted about a possible child.
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Royal Family KIDS Camp, over 200 in the U.S.. Royalfamilykids.org. A one week overnight summer camp specifically designed for children of abuse and neglect in foster care. Check out The CAMP Movie on Netflix to see what it’s all about.
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A woman in Wyoming has had the child since the child was 6 months old. The adult has had Guardianship since the child was less than 1 year. She has been trying to adopt the child for the last 5 years. The father has never seen the child. The father will not relinquish rights. The mother is willing to, but can’t until the father does because otherwise the father can pull the guardianship and take the child. Where is the justice in this?? Why doesn’t the court systems in our country try to keep the child with the only family she has ever known? Just one person wants to keep this child in the only home she has ever known without any help from anyone. Just one person wants to keep the family as it has been for almost 8 years.Just one person wants to never worry about where her child (ward) will be tomorrow. As we are worrying about children in foster care, we should also be worrying about the children that the system doesn’t account for.
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Project 127 in Colorado.
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The Bair Foundation Child & Family Ministries http://www.christianfostercare.org
Foster Care, Foster-to-Adopt, Clinical Services – PA OK, OH, NC, SC, KY, VA, NM, TX
Become a foster parent! ❤
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Also we are members of the Christian Alliance for Orphans – CAFO http://www.cafo.org
Many churches can belong to this and Orphan Sunday (usually the 1st week in November) is a CAFO initiative, globally and nationally!
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The CALL (Children of Arkansas Loved for aLifetime)
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My husband and I were part of an amazing orphan ministry called Abba’s Answer at our former church (Crossroads Bible Church) in Grand Rapids, MI, before we moved to south central Michigan.
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Safe Families for Children is all about raising up the Church to tackle the foster care system through allowing parents to voluntarily choose to place their children into loving volunteer host family homes. Caring for children and families is the call of the Church – but in the past 50+ years, we have stepped back and let the government do this hefty job. It is time for the Church to return to this work, it is time for us to extend a hand of love and grace to struggling families and children. It’s truly amazing to see all the passion behind this idea on this blog! Safe Families is starting up in Cleveland now. Our Safe Families story started when a mom called asking “is there anyone in your church that does guardianship or foster care? I need help…” https://vimeo.com/99751751
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The church as a whole should be ASHAMED as to how they buy into the foster care system. I was first excited but quickly repulsed when reading the article. For the most part the church does NOTHING to help families in crisis! It’s all about fostering and adoption! Does anyone wrap around the child’s PARENTS that need help to get their lives on track?
I left a church because of this issue. There were foster families that wanted to adopt the children. In prayer groups the prayers were always ‘please terminate rights so that awful bio family will just go away..’ There were no prayers, ever, for the parents to get their lives together.
Does anyone know how the funding works? How much money is involved in foster care and adoption? How this has made a very corrupt system? Read more about it at http://www.fixcps.com
When Jesus saw corruption, he got angry and threw over the tables. We are supposed to take care of the orphans. Do you really think Jesus would approve of a system that creates them?
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I am a part of an organization called Safe Families for Children. We help kids from families in crisis through people in churches that are willing to host the kids until the family(usually mom) can get on her feet. We also focus on helping the mom with anything she might need to have a better life once the child returns to her. We are having an informational meeting next week for anyone interested in getting involved. Check out our website http://safe-families.org and also here is the info for the meeting coming up.
What is it?
It is a training to equip the church to be a powerful, loving option for families and children in crisis in our communities. The church has all the resources (us) to help families and children in need. Come and find out how you and your home can be a place of refuge for these children. #radicalhospitality
The Refuge, 230 Refuge Way, Kannapolis, NC 28081
Thursday, March 3 at 6:30pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/safe-families-for-children-vision-sharing-and-host-family-training-tickets-22134639302
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Hi Cristina,
Heard lots of great things about your group! Keep up the great work!
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Safe Families for Children (SFFC) helps to prevent foster care; helps to keep families together through offering a way out of isolation; mobilizes the church community to love our neighbors to prevent kiddos from the harm that activates removal by the state. The model shown above for wrapping around foster homes is the SFFC model except that it is the bio-family in the middle instead of a foster family. http://www.safe-families.org
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Excellent post! Thank you!
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Help1 child in Bay area CA
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Project Prevention through the Los Angeles Dream Center not only offers support and assistance for families at risk of losing their children due to ‘general neglect’ (poverty conditions such as not enough food, no furniture, etc.), but they also are willing to assist families that foster and/or want to adopt.
The Dream Center also now has a live-in program for those who have aged out of the foster care system, to help them become successful adults with a big extended family.
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Such a gpood idea. I know that in Grand Rapids, Frontline Church encourges it’s congregration to adoupt from the Foster care system and ophans from needy countries such as Hatti. Many have done so. In my csse I found that more would adopt fostrr children if the agencies and the state did not make it such a long and difficult process.
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My family is a part of Tatum’s Totes. We help run the Franklin County Tatum’s Totes in Vermont. An organization that puts together backpacks of stuff like clothes, hygiene items, toys, and blankets for kids in the foster care system. You can check out our Facebook page to see what we have been up to.
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Safe Families for Children is a great ministry based in local churches across the nation.
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http://Www.safe-families.org
Forgive me if this is a repeat. I just couldn’t go through all the posts to see if anyone had posted Safe Families for Children.
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Yep. We’re pleased to hear they’re coming to our home community.
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As someone who has extensive work with foster care children, the system, and now as a therapist, most “church people” cannot handle the behaviors of these children as it doesn’t meet their standards. The church is going to have to change their legalistic views and get dirty like Christ did. The church will have to show they are more than tithes, Sunday pomp and circumstance, and above the “norm”. Then, maybe the church can step up to the plate and do the work and example of Christ.
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Hello brethen, Sir, we want to know this Church if u people can work with church or orphanage school in different country?
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Please visit Equippingthecalled.org
We are a relatively new ministry devoted to helping foster families.
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You do not understand why the numbers of children in foster care are rising — it is because of federal incentives to the counties for each child taken into care. We DO NOT need more adoptive families — we need to destroy the foster care system and support families in staying together — THAT is the Christian approach, NOT joining with a corrupt system which divides families one from the other. Understand that the reality is very different from the narrative — foster children are victimized more by CPS than by their own families in a high percentage of cases. Churches need to be available to support families BEFORE they are divided, not get in line to permanently take children from families victimized by a system corrupted by federal money flows. Wake up.
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Check out safe-families.org Safe Families for Children is the community of local churches and community providing Circles of Support like extended family BEFORE the need for fostercare. Loving and caring for children and parents/families – offering informal supports to help families stay together.
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Shannon, thank you for what you are doing and lead others to do (especially the church) to step in the gap for God’s kids and rebuilding families. We are Lavender Life Company and would like to donate a lavender filled Xander Bunny for every one of the foster kids in your network (check us out at http://www.lavender-Life.com). Email me directly at hello@lavender-Life.com . 616-481-3349 is my cell.
Sincerely, Vic and Vickie Bennett
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GREAT article! I agree that the church has the answer to sep into the gap to rescue these kids and in restoring families. Thanks for your vision!
My wife Vickie and I are lavender farmers in Michigan (lavender-life.com). While developing products incorporating our lavender our daughter and son-in-law were fostering a traumatized little two year old boy, Xander. He was so helped by our lavender filled plush bunny we decided right away to donate one to a child in foster care for everyone we sold and named them the Xander Bunny. 15 months later we have sold 17,000 of them and are spending the winter tying to keep up on hand delivering donation bunnies to great agencies. We have made a couple of stops to Crossnore in Winston Salem, , NC (a super great organization by the way) and are partnered with other county and private agencies throughout the country. If you know of other agencies we can partner with, please follow the link, check out our mission to help rescue kids at risk and sign up. https://lavender-life.com/pages/agency-attribution?_pos=1&_sid=b6289d0f1&_ss=r
Thanks, Victor Bennett
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If more families were in the church, I feel, there would be a whole lot less foster care needed !!!
Thanks is for all your hard work in this.
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Shannon Dingle my name is Phyliss Henry my email is plhenry37@ gmail.com we live in South West Louisiana. The problem with aging out of fostercare was brought home to me by losing my neice by marriage to a disease. At her funeral I was told her story. At twelve she was put in home at 18 she was given her belongings and put out on street. The churches and other organizations are unaware this is happening in SWLA. I have joined up with an organization doing our best for those in crisis neighborhoods who are in danger of being in foster care. We are very small with little funds. Do you have information about resourses we can use to help these children to become responsible adults. Thank you for your work. God Bless
Sincerely
Phyliss Henry
Secretary
Christ for The Crisis
CEO Alexa Guzman
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