How the Care Community Model works
What is a Care Community?
A care community is a group of trained church members who provide support, care, and encouragement to foster, adoptive, kinship, and vulnerable families. Care communities often bring weekly meals, mentor and tutor children, and provide child care for date nights or respite, along with other requested support. Caring for the most vulnerable children is not just for those who are called to foster; everyone can do something. These families need community and support now more than ever.
Meet Sarah and Luke.
Sarah and Luke are a Northern Virginia foster and adoptive family that utilized the support and connection of a care community through their church’s Project Belong ministry. They were approached by the leader of their foster care ministry, who offered support for their foster care journey.
What prompted you to either request or accept the support offered by a care community? “We had had a foster placement before our daughter and had no support from a church or other organization during the first placement. We know how hard and, at times, lonely it can be while fostering, so we knew the support and encouragement would be beneficial for our family.”
What support did you receive? “We received sweet encouragement from the care community group in the form of prayers, cards, and text messages. They provided us with a meal every week which was such a help for our family. Our family got together with the whole group a few times for a communal dinner which was a great way for us to share our story with them and for us to get to know them better.”
How has it affected your experience as a foster parent, if at all? “Foster care can be difficult at times, and knowing that there are people who genuinely care about supporting our family was huge. The prayers and encouragement kept us going when we felt discouraged. Having this kind of support is crucial for foster families.”
What is a story of a way your care community has really shown up for you? “I think the most special time we shared with the care community was our daughter's adoption. It was so special to celebrate with the people who had cheered us on, prayed for us, and provided for our physical needs. They were able to attend the adoption ceremony at the courthouse and came to a party at our house to celebrate the finalization of her adoption. They will forever be a part of our journey”.
Thank you to Sarah and Luke for sharing a little bit of their story with us!
According to a June 2024 article in the Journal of Public Child Welfare entitled “Examining the Impact of Participation in a Foster Parent Support Program on Child Welfare Outcomes in Georgia”, the concept of nonprofits like Project Belong VA, and partner Promise686 (based in Georgia), is demonstrating strong success in helping foster families foster stronger, and longer. Surrounding foster parents with support provides less disruptions for children in care, longevity for foster families, and a higher chance for children to reunify with their biological families or be adopted. The study demonstrates these fantastic outcomes as a direct result of wraparound care for foster families in Georgia, and we have seen the same outcomes across the nation.
Project Belong Virginia is a proud partner of Promise686. Promise686 is a nonprofit that provides Project Belong’s staff, churches, and volunteers with resources and training to be successful in supporting foster, kinship, adoptive, and vulnerable families. The research done for the article above found that children in foster homes who participated in a Promise686 support program had significantly fewer removals from foster care homes. Additional support for foster parents may help address the systemic and persistent problem of low foster parent retention. The study states, “that identifying a program that leads to more placement stability for children and youth in foster care is an important finding.”
This study showed what we know and do works - connecting foster, adoptive, and kinship families to external support helps them continue to foster - and foster children with challenging behaviors or disabilities in their homes. This is the goal of foster care!
If you want to read more about the study detailed above, you can find the information below.
You can learn how your church can support families through a care community here.
References:
Ryan Hanlon, Abigail Lindner & Katherine V. Garcia-Rosales (30 Jun 2024):
Examining the impact of participation in a foster parent support program on child welfare
outcomes in Georgia, Journal of Public Child Welfare, DOI: 10.1080/15548732.2024.2372728
https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2024.2372728