Be The One!
CHANGING THE WAY FAMILIES FOSTER
Every child deserves to experience hope and we believe the local church is the answer. It is often said that our state has a foster care crisis. However, if just 1% of our church members said yes to actively fostering, then 100% of the foster care need would be met. The truth is, there is a foster yes crisis. We know how overwhelming foster care can be. That’s why we believe the solution is to give missional families a better option to foster. Foster families need to be equipped with the right tools and professional services to welcome vulnerable children. Your church can provide those services through a partnership with your Arkansas Baptist placement agency.
What is Church-Driven
Foster Care and Adoption?
A holistic, gospel-centered solution to the foster care need.
Serving the most vulnerable is the responsibility of the church. Church-driven foster care allows the local church to take ownership of foster care for its community through a partnership with CFCA. You are not just supporting foster families, you are doing foster care.
Engaging in foster care is one of the greatest avenues of impact for reaching the brokenness of your community. You have missional families in your church who are afraid to step into this mission field because foster care is overwhelming. We can partner with you to equip them with Christ-centered foster care services, making their yes possible.
How is this partnership different from foster family support ministry?
Christian Support Organizations assist DCFS in recruiting and supporting foster parents from local Evangelical churches to foster through the state. These organizations can make the on-ramp to foster care easier and provide practical support throughout the process for families.
Christian Placement Agencies offer foster families an alternative to fostering through the state, contracted by DCFS to provide child placement and case management services in accordance with Arkansas Minimum Licensure Standards and DCFS policy. These agencies supervise and provide professional services to foster families. Our Christ-centered, trauma-informed caseworkers partner with families at every step for every challenge.
Can our church work with both Connected and Support Organizations?
Absolutely! Because of the different focus of these two types of ministries, there could be significant partnership between Christian Support Organizations and Christian Placement Agencies, working together for the shared mission to effectively equip local churches to meet the need for more foster homes. Foster families would experience a complete support system equipping them with both the practical support and professional services of Christ-centered foster care. The result would be longevity of foster families and the best possible experience for children in foster care.
What does a partnership with CFCA
look like?
We are the vehicle, the church is the engine driving foster care ministry! A church identifies a qualified church member to serve in ministry by joining our staff to provide the foster families of your church with casework services. A church commits to helping recruit missional families as foster families. The pastor and leadership maintain oversight of casting the vision while we carry out the services. We incur the costs while the church provides the office space for the Connected staff member.