NATION’S LARGEST ADOPTION AGENCY SEEKS HOST FAMILIES IN THE GREATER DELAWARE VALLEY TO SUPPORT FAMILIES IN NEED

The Greater Delaware Valley branch of Bethany Christian
Services, the nation’s largest adoption agency, is recruiting host families to help keep children out of the foster care system, prevent child abuse, support pregnant and parenting teens, and strengthen families. The agency’s recruitment efforts are part of its planned launch of the Safe Families for Children program in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties.

Over the past decade, the number of U.S. children in foster care has dropped by nearly 20 percent. A primary reason for that decrease is the implementation of proactive social service programs to strengthen and support families.  Safe Families for Children is a unique prevention service enlisting local host families from local churches to offer temporary care for children whose parents are experiencing personal difficulties so that they can work through their troubles without having to place their children in foster care. Host families can also provide support to pregnant or parenting teens in need.  

Bethany has successfully introduced Safe Families for Children in Harrisburg, PA and other cities across the country, including Atlanta, Nashville and St. Louis.  As Bethany looks to replicate that success in the Greater Delaware Valley, the agency is working with local churches to raise awareness of the innovative movement and to recruit host families willing to assist families in crisis. Additionally, Bethany hopes local residents and organizations in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties will donate critical supplies and services to assist host families and families in need.  Host families do not receive financial compensation, but are motivated by compassion to help others. 

“Keeping children with their parents is always preferred to placing them in foster care,” said Jennifer Chantz, branch director of Bethany’s Greater Delaware Valley office.  “The Safe Families for Children program has delivered exceptional results in every market Bethany has introduced it and with the support we expect to receive from the local community, we are confident the program will provide valuable assistance to local families in need for years to come. We thank those who have already come forward to serve as host families and hope that more will
volunteer for this life-changing and community-changing initiative.”

To learn more about Safe Families for Children and how you can volunteer to be a host family, or to make a donation, please contact 215-376-6200 or visit www.bethany.org/Philadelphia. 

Bethany Christian Services is a global leader in caring for orphans and vulnerable children with more than 80 locations in 33 states and in more than a dozen countries.  Bethany is the largest adoption agency in the U.S. and placed 1,930 children nationwide in 2010. In addition to adoption services, Bethany provides pregnancy counseling, family counseling, foster care programs, refugee services, orphan care, and an infertility ministry called Stepping Stones. Bethany was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.