Baptist Family & Children’s Services has served kids and families in Maryland since 1920. More recently, the agency has expanded its reach to include Delaware, Southern Pennsylvania, and eastern West Virginia.

Mission

The mission of Baptist Family and Children’s Services is to plan, develop, implement, and promote services that encourage the physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing of children, the elderly and families in crisis in the Maryland/Delaware region.

To accomplish its mission, Baptist Family has established three programs of service: CHOSEN Treatment Foster Care, The Good Samaritan Network, and the McCormick Family Life Institute. Please use the links to the left to learn more about these programs.

Vision

By 2010, Baptist Family and Children’s Services will be the primary faith-based wraparound resource for churches and community groups who serve individuals and families in need of new starts in the Maryland/Delaware region.

Values

BFCS holds the following values as key to our work:

• Christian Following the example of Jesus Christ, we will devote ourselves to serving people in distress, treating them as we would want to be treated, and providing them with help, hope, and healing.
• Family-Centered The focus of our help, primarily, is on the family unit, believing that the best opportunity for healing, growth, and development occurs in the context of the family. This value is still lived out even when the family is not able or willing to participate.
• Community-Supported BFCS staff draws on the formal and informal community resources and mobilizes these resources to help meet clients’ needs, recognizing that families are strengthened as they are embraced by their communities.
• Strengths-Based We get to know clients in positive ways (i.e., strengths, values, beliefs, goals, dreams, etc.) and connect these strengths to goals that the family develops in the planning process.
• Solution-Focused The emphasis in the helping relationship is on defining desired outcomes and focusing on their achievement. A small change is all that is needed as an impetus for resolution because a change in one part of the system will affect the other parts.

Accreditations

In 2007, Baptist Family & Children’s Services received two important endorsements of its work. In January, the agency was granted accreditation by the Council on Accreditation. COA was founded in 1977 by the Child Welfare League of America and Family Service America (now the Alliance for Children and Families). It offers the most rigorous accreditation available to agencies with foster care programs.

In November, the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations announced that Baptist Family met its “Standards of Excellence.” While COA accreditation closely focuses on service delivery, the Standards of Excellence emphasize good governance and administrative functions.

For a listing of current job openings, please click here.