Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27
Safe Families for Children
Ministering God's Love to Families in Need
A Ministry of Justice & Compassion
Families Helping Families
When a crisis strikes, many of us rely on relatives and friends for support. But for some families, poverty and social isolation mean that they have no support when they need it. Often, a straightforward problem such as post-partum depression or unemployment can be debilitating. Children in these situations often suffer neglect or abuse; some eventually are removed from their home and placed in state custody.
Westminster's Safe Families for Children ministry provides a chance for parents to get back on their feet before abuse and neglect occur. Parents experiencing a temporary crisis can arrange for their children to stay with families of faith while they address the issues that led to their situation.
Safe Families for Children is a movement of compassion that is preventing child abuse by encouraging the Church to resume its historical and Biblical responsibility for vulnerable children by becoming part of the support network for these children's parents.
How Does Safe Families Work?
Safe Families case-coaches hear about families in crisis from a variety of referral sources, including schools, hospitals, social workers, churches and other Christian agencies. Our staff works quickly to contact an available volunteer family and share the situation with them. Volunteers agree to the placement at their own discretion, and can put a time limit on their involvement. The average length of stay is about six weeks, but can range from two days to a year. Volunteers are screened and approved through background checks, home studies and references and serve without compensation.
Placing parents maintain full custody of their child, and are encouraged to participate in decisions regarding their child's care while they address whatever issues led to the crisis. For some, this could mean drug rehabilitation; for others, it might involve leaving an abusive relationship or finding steady employment.Safe Families staff and volunteer team encourage a relationship between the Host Family and the parents when appropriate and many of these relationships continue after the child is returned home. Nearly all families in the program come back together, with placing parents reporting that their home environments are more stable and nurturing as a result of the program.
Making a Difference
Safe Family volunteers can have a powerful impact in the lives of others while being transformed themselves by practicing biblical hospitality and extending the love of Christ to people in need. There are a variety of ways to participate in your area:
- Host Family
Host Families are volunteers who practice Biblical hospitality by opening their homes to children while their parents resolve short-term crises.
- Family Friend
Family Friends are volunteer mentors who come alongside parents to support them in making necessary changes to their lives. Family Friends help to address the problem of parental isolation, which is at the root of why most parents seek out Safe Families. Placement of children is not needed for parents to be connected to a Family Friend.
- Resource Friends
Resource Friends provide assistance to parents and other volunteers in the Safe Family movement through amateur services they can offer such as baby-sitting, transportation and lawn care; professional services they can offer such as physicians, dentists, mental health professionals, barbers and teachers; and physical objects they can donate such as diapers, formula, and gently-used baby equipment and children's clothing.
- Support for Existing Situations
If a relative or friend is already caring for a child and is in need of support, Safe Families welcomes them into our vibrant volunteer network by making home support visits, inviting them to community groups and giving them access to physical resources in order to strengthen them as they provide a stable environment for a child.
An Opportunity for Everyone
Safe Families volunteers** include singles, married couples with children of any age and empty nesters, all of whom simply decided to make room in their hearts and homes for children in need.
God's pre-eminent concern for the orphan, widow and otherwise fatherless in scripture highlights his deep love for the family and the need for support for the family in society. The family is God's ordained unit for the welfare of children. A safe family environment can literally mean hope or despair, life or death to a child. The church must recover its obligation to families. For those ready for this challenge of faith and obedience, Safe Families is a ministry opportunity that will transform lives forever. - Rev. Joe Boot, Senior Pastor Westminster Chapel
Serving as Safe Families volunteers this last year has really opened our eyes to needs we just didn't know very much about. We're humbled by our own limitations in meeting these needs, and feel so honored that God would use our family to help others in crisis. - Larry and Debbie Tornquist, Mt. Prospect, IL
Referrals
To refer a struggling family in need of the care offered by Safe Families, please call 416-466-8819.
Beyond Westminster Chapel
Westminster Chapel is developing the first Safe Families for Children ministry in Canada and our desire is to see this ministry spread to other churches across the country. If you are interested in starting this ministry at your church, please e-mail jennifer.forbes@westminsterchapel.ca.
