Safe Families for Children
note: for more information on Safe Families, please click here and leave a message.
To browse the national Safe Families website, click here.
Safe Families for Children strives to meet three objectives:
- Child Welfare Deflection: Safe Families provides a safe alternative to child welfare custody, thus significantly reducing the number of children entering the child welfare system.
- Child Abuse Prevention: Providing an overwhelmed and resource limited parent with a safe, temporary place for their child without threat of losing custody. By offering support, the goal is to avert potential abuse/neglect episodes.
- Family Support and Stabilization: Many parents struggle because of limited social support and unavailable extended family. Many Safe Families Volunteers become the extended family that a parent never had.
When crisis strikes, many of us rely on relatives and our church family for support. But for some parents, there isn't a safety net. Often problems such as drug addiction, domestic abuse, incarceration, or illness can be debilitating, making it impossible for parents to care for their children. With the changing economy many more families are experiencing financial crisis, unemployment, and homelessness. During such crisis, children are especially at-risk for neglect or abuse as their parents struggle to cope with crushing circumstances and emotions.
State welfare emergency hotlines throughout the nation reportedly receive over 5 million calls each year of suspected child abuse or neglect. Of those calls, about one million meet the criteria for state intervention. What happens to the remaining four million families that don't qualify for help? Overburdened by need and restrained by resources, law and policy most state welfare agencies are allowed to rescue only children who have suffered blatant abuse or neglect. Overwhelmed and underfunded, the state is ill-equipped to deal with a problem of this magnitude. Without assistance, many of these families will find the issues in their homes escalating to episodes of abuse and/or neglect with long lasting consequences for not only the child, but also for our communities as well.
Safe Families for Children expands the community safety net by providing parents in need with mentoring relationships and tangible support in times of crisis. Safe Families for Children believes children will be safe and well-cared for if families in crisis have a network of support. Safe Families for Children is an opportunity for the church to return to the forefront of caring for orphans and widows. Volunteers can have a powerful impact in the lives of others while practicing biblical hospitality and extending the love of Christ to people in need — all from their own home!
Volunteer families, prompted, solely by compassion, mentor at risk families and host families open their homes to children allowing parents to work out their problems without having to worry about losing parental custody. Volunteer opportunities include:
Host Families
Volunteer families willing to open their homes to children in crisis and provide a safe and loving home and family atmosphere for them on a temporary basis
Family Friends/Mentors
Mature Christians serving in a mentoring role to connect with biological families; assisting with and addressing the circumstances that led to their crisis
Case Coaches
Volunteers who facilitate the relationship between the biological and volunteer Safe Family during a placement. Their primary focus is ensuring the well-being of the child(ren) while coordinating communication between the various agencies, Host Family, and the biological family.
Providing Resources
Donation of children’s items including (but not limited to): diapers, formula, cribs, car seats, strollers, and clothing are essential.
Professional Services
A comprehensive network of professionals willing to provide services on a donated or discounted rate for the support of children in crisis and/or volunteer families. Doctors, dentists, hair-care professionals, handymen and house cleaners are just a few examples.
SUCCESSES!
Note: These stories are taken from our monthly "PrayerGram." If you would like to receive the Prayergram by email, please click here and leave us your address. All names have been changed to protect the identities of our kids and families.
Melissa approved two new families for our Safe Families for Children program. One family is from Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie and the other is from North Harford Baptist Church. We also welcomed two new CHOSEN families earlier this month --one from Howard County and the other from Baltimore County. We are happy that they are willing to open their homes to children in need.
There is great news to pass along about Ching Lan, for whom you have been praying over the past several months. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in January and started a full time job with benefits this week. Ching Lan is now looking at a more stable future.
Darron took his GED test this week. After he receives the GED, he has a job lined up and ready to go.
Kudos to foster parent Tamara Harris for her willingness to stay up all night during a recent hospitalization with her CHOSEN child.
Prayer Requests
...for a foster child who is having difficulty with the transition back to his biological family and is acting out.
...for a foster teen who has not had contact with his biological family for years and is hesitant to respond after they reached out to him through social media.
...for a woman who lost her husband on Monday; she is feeling overwhelmed by the logistics of his burial as well as the grief of losing him.
...for a foster child who is struggling to stay on task at school.
...for a young man who is seeking a diagnosis for chronic abdominal pain.
...for a foster child who has been experiencing suicidal ideations.
...for a man who will undergo cataract surgery next week.
...for a young mother who is recovering from a severe infection in the brain and going through physical therapy.