Love Never Fails Foster Care and FostAdopt Overview

Love Never Fails Foster Care and Fost/Adopt Overview for Churches For more information, please contact Agape Adoption Agency of Arizona, Inc. Phone (480) 272 -7994 P O Box 50246 Phoenix, AZ 85076 www. agapeaz. org Adoption Certification Foster Care Licensure Parenting Classes Kinship Advocacy Birth Parent Services

Love Never Fails What is the ABC Initiative? Agape Black Children and Churches Initiative, inspired by the One Church One Child program which has placed 120, 000 children in adoptive homes. ABC Initiative Program Goals: 1. Increase awareness about the need for foster and adoptive homes; - In the Black community - In the general community, with an emphasis on the needs of Black children 2. Take action by training, licensing, certifying, supporting and celebrating resource families and foster family ministries 3. Retain resource families through fellowship events and through effective advocacy with Arizona’s Department of Economic Security and Maricopa County’s Superior Court

Love Never Fails How Does Foster Care Work? – Resource families trained (30 hours), licensed and ready to receive children into their care – Call to child abuse report line – Investigation of allegation – Child safety evaluated – Child moved to a relatives home or foster home – Caseworker assigned to work with birth family and child until child can be reunited with birth family or, if reunification is impossible, until an adoption plan is developed

Love Never Fails What brings a child into foster care? • Parental abuse –Physical, emotional or sexual • Parental Neglect or Abandonment –Lack of supervision –Failure to provide adequate housing –Failure to provide basic needs and/or hygiene

Love Never Fails Who Are the Kids in Foster Care?

Love Never Fails Who Are the Kids in Foster Care?

Love Never Fails Who Are the Kids in Foster Care?

Love Never Fails Who Are the Kids in Foster Care?

Love Never Fails Maricopa County Zip Codes with Most Pressing Need for Resource (Foster and Adoptive) Parents 85014, 85225, 85040, 85041, 85029, 85204, 85021, 85033, 85051, 85015, 85323, 85009, 85017, 85301, 85201 If your church is in one of these zip codes, please call Agape today to find out how you can make a difference!

Love Never Fails Next Steps for Churches RAISE AWARENESS: ENCOURAGE AND CELEBRATE FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION Identify one family who is willing to foster or adopt a newly identified child and support that family through the licensure/certification/placement processes. Host adoption and foster care orientation and training meetings at your church. Agape will provide participating churches with informational materials and will conduct orientation and training meetings at dates and times that are convenient for YOU! Bring in guest speakers, distribute flyers or hang posters about the importance of adoption and foster care, and the need for families to get involved and support each other. There are times each year when churches and communities across the nation are doing this together. Historically, National Foster Care Month is in May. National Adoption Month is in November, and National Adoption Day is celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Love Never Fails Next Steps for Churches ESTABLISH A CORE TEAM OR A FOSTER CARE MINISTRY Gather together additional individuals and families in your church and local community who also have a heart for foster care and adoption. Be aware that there may be many people in your church whose lives have already been touched by adoption and orphan care. Once foster care and adoptive placements begin, be sure to organize regular meetings to support one another. Here are some recommendations of areas of focus: mentor new resource families; advocate and educate each other as you gain expertise as a resource family; provide respite for each other; pray and encourage each other if problems arise; recruit additional resource families and help with child-specific adoption campaigns; organize Christ-centered, annual (or more frequent) fellowship events for the children in your care.

Love Never Fails Next Steps for Churches SUPPORT THE FAMILIES THAT ARE “CLOSE TO HOME” Find out more about the families at risk in your zip code and how your congregation can help them. In addition to fostering or adopting, church members can: Start A Mentoring Ministry For Vulnerable Children. A mentoring ministry may be an extension of an existing youth or young adult ministry, and can offers the opportunity to help to break the cycle by providing Godly role models and friends to foster or otherwise vulnerable children. Be a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). CASAs are volunteers from the community who visit assigned foster children and advocate for their best interests inside and outside of the courtroom. Participate on the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB). These volunteers review the progress of children in the foster care system toward achieving a permanent home and advise the juvenile court on this progress. Be an advocate. The Children's Action Alliance (CAA) is a strong and independent voice for Arizona's children. Join CAA's advocacy network to stay up to date on policy issues that make a difference to the well-being of children in and out of the foster care system. Be a donor. A donation to the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (AFFCF) helps provide opportunities for foster children that include college scholarships, tutoring, athletic memberships and equipment, school activities and more.

Love Never Fails What should each ABC Initiative Participating Church Do? Each participating church can do any of the “Next Steps” described in this presentation, including: 1. Identify and Supporting Families for Foster Care and Adoptive Placements 2. Raise Awareness About Adoption and Foster Care 3. Host an Orientation or Training Meetings for Church Members and Local Families 4. Participate in ABC Initiative Events, Including the Semi-Annual Community Breakfasts 5. Find Unique Ways to Encourage and Celebrate the Successes of Families and Mentors Involved in Foster Care or Adoption

Love Never Fails Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. —James 1: 27 Agape Adoption Agency of Arizona, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Christian Agency that provides Adoption Certification Foster Care Licensure Parenting Classes Kinship Advocacy Birth Parent Services For more information, please contact us at: Phone (480) 272 -7994 Fax (480) 323 -2064 www. agapeaz. org