Alliance Newsletter, July 2009

When children are removed from their home and placed in the foster care system, the road ahead is almost always both painful and confusing for everyone involved.   A church-based model developed in Chicago is providing an alternative—with remarkable results.

Safe Families is a Christian network of  volunteer host families who open their homes to care for children in danger of being placed in the foster system.   Whether from a mother struggling with addiction or a father grappling with anger issues, Safe Families will take in “any child, for any reason.”  The state and county work closely with Safe Families to facilitate referrals.  Most host families come from Chicago-area churches that are part of  Safe Families, as does the army of other volunteers that support host families with everything from babysitting to professional medical services.

The model was created in 2003 by a member organization of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, Lydia Homes, and its director, Dave Anderson—a Christian child psychologist.  This year, Safe Families volunteer families will take in about 1,000 children.  This number equals roughly 1/6^th of the entire Illinois state foster system.

By reducing the number of children taken into the foster system, Safe Families saves government immense effort and millions of dollars.  By caring for children in difficult situations—and often their parents, too—Safe Families points definitively to a God who loves the destitute and struggling.

Today, the network of Christian Alliance for Orphans partners is helping to spread the model’s impact.  From 4KIDS of South Florida to Bethany Christian Services, Alliance members now are building the Safe Families’ model in seven states—with more likely to come.  If you would like to consider developing Safe Families in your area, please contact David Anderson (danderson@lydiahome.org).