Fostering Hope & Connect1Child
With over 400,000 children in the U.S. in state care, we are in the midst of a crisis.
For the church, the most difficult aspect of foster care is knowing how to get involved.
Lifeline Children’s Services in partnership with Connect1Child wants to take the guesswork out of getting your church engaged in bringing the gospel to bear for vulnerable children and families in your community.
Fostering Hope w/ Connect1Child has produced a set of free resources to help you and your church begin or extend ministry through foster care including:
Foster Parenting from a Biblical Worldview Guide
This guide provides all the components for any church member to facilitate this in a small group setting. It includes video training, facilitator guides, and printable guides for participants. This can be used for a foster family who is brand new or has been fostering for years.
WRAP Team Recruitment and Training Guide
A beginning guide for churches on how to surround, support, and care for foster families as an extension of ministry to vulnerable children.
Sermon Help & Promotional Materials
Resources to help present foster care to the church, including a sermon outline, bulletin insert, and Power Point slides to share with your congregation about the needs in your community.
Foster Care Info Meeting Powerpoint
After getting the church excited about being engaged in foster care, it is important to have an action step for them to take next. This info meeting outline helps a ministry leader do an in depth walk through of the ways a church member can get engaged. You are able to customize it to fit your community and your church support ministry.
Outreach to Child Welfare Authorities
A 12-month guide of the whys and hows to care for your local child welfare office, including a prayer guide and tangible action items.
CEU Recordings
Once a foster parent is licensed, they are required to obtain a certain number of CEUs per year to maintain that license. This can be a difficult task for a family. These videos can be watched individually or as a group and the foster parent can receive a CEU certificate after completing.
Families Count
A program to mobilize the local church to bring the gospel to bear in at risk families and in families seeking reunification and permanence from state care.
Foster and Adoptive Parent Connect Guide
Connecting with other adoptive and foster parents creates space to build relationships, offer advice, and share the adoption and foster care journey. We’ve learned that newer connection groups benefit from structure and short outlines.
Foster Parents’ Night Out
A dedicated time where families can bring their children to the church, so that they can have time to themselves to pour back in to each other. This document outlines key ways to add this refreshing component to your church’s fostering ministry.
Equipped to Love Curriculum
6-session curriculum designed to help individuals in your church such as teachers and other support workers learn how to understand the needs of these families and provide them with practical support. Topics in this training include: caring for families, interacting appropriately with children with compromised beginnings of life, demonstrating sensitivity for adoptive and foster parents, understanding the unique needs of children from hard places, exhibiting language sensitivity, and managing challenging behavior.