Faith is the foundation of Christian Homes & Family Services, and it permeates every aspect of the ministry: our compassion for birth mothers; the integrity at the core of our relationship with prospective parents; whom we approve to provide foster care; how we manage the agency’s day-to-day operations; the stewardship of the ministry’s resources.
We know people come to us with greater expectations because Christian is our first name. So whether they are yearning, hurting, anxious or eager, our prayer is that God will be glorified in how we respond and minister.
Adopting a child is a life changing experience, and choosing the agency which you will rely on for legal expertise, birth parent contact, counseling and direction is an extremely important choice you make. Christian Homes & Family Services will help you explore adoption agencies, whether your choice is for open, semi open, or closed.
You can rely on the adoption professionals at Christian Homes with great confidence. Four members of the Christian Homes social services team have worked together almost 30 years. Two members of the team have adopted children of their own, one is a foster parent and one is an adoptee. The expertise our tenured team has gained working with more than 2000 young women with unplanned pregnancies, and more than as many adopting families, is unique among adoption agencies, and a difference you will appreciate.
In addition to adoption services, Christian Homes cares for birth mothers, most of whom have made the difficult choice to place their children for adoption. A birth mother chooses to rely on Christian Homes because of our assurance that couples waiting to adopt her child are respectful and appreciative of birth parents, faithful Christians fully committed to loving her baby as their own, and anxious to make the child a member of their forever family.
Couples choose to work with Christian Homes because in addition to wanting to adopt a precious child, they have embraced our ministry of caring for women who, when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, not only choose to give their babies life, but chose to give their babies wonderful lives in loving Christian homes.
Birth mother care is the essence of our ministry. It includes housing and life’s necessities, pre-natal and after birth medical care, counseling, legal compliance, and most especially spiritual development. Our Christian Homes social service professionals and the birth mothers who rely on us for care have a life-long bond of friendship.
The Christian Homes & Family Services Board of Trustees, many of whom adopted their own children, understand the heartache and frustration you may be going through; therefore the infant adoption fees are based on a sliding scale.
In addition, the Trustees are active in securing financial support for at least 50% of the ministry’s expenses, all of which offset adoption fees and as a result reduce the cost of each adoption. Here is more information about our infant adoption fees and affording your child’s adoption.
Yes, financial assistance is available. Between a federal tax credit, grant programs, loan programs and more, we can help you learn how to help fund your adoption.
The timeline for adoption varies for each family. If you meet the eligibility requirements, the first step to adopting with Christian Homes & Family Services is to complete and submit a pre-application. Once the pre-application is returned and the references have been verified, you will be asked to attend a two-day Adoption Orientation conducted at least twice per year.
After orientation comes paperwork, home studies, interviews, letter writing and then your profile is shown to prospective birth mothers. After you are chosen and the baby is born, finalization typically takes place about six to seven months after birth.
Adoption Orientation usually takes place in February and September of each year.
Once the pre-application is returned and the references have been verified, you will be asked to attend the next open orientation.
So you likely have a laundry list of questions about adoption you would like answered. When you participate in the two-day adoption orientation you’ll get answers to questions such as:
The Orientation agenda also includes a review of all the paperwork — and the state requires a lot of it — needed to complete the adoption process.
For most couples, the highlight of the Orientation is a series of three panel discussions with couples who have adopted, grown children who were adopted and birth parents.
Once you have attended Orientation, the length of time to complete the next step is up to you because it’s determined by how quickly you complete and return the application forms and provide requested documentation. Interviews and home studies are scheduled after the complete application has been submitted. Then the process generally follows this path:
