Foster Care

Building Families in the Spirit of Love

Traditional Foster Care Program

Every day there are children who need our help - children, who through no fault of their own, must be sheltered and cared for away from their own home. In conjunction with the Department of Human Resources, these neglected or abused children are placed with AGAPE foster parents who operate private foster family homes throughout the 22 counties of North Alabama that AGAPE serves. Our Christian foster families provide shelter and care, along with the love, stability and security which may be missing in the child’s own home.

The ultimate goal of the foster care program is to care for the displaced child until she/he can be reunited with her/his parents and returned home. The parents work on a plan resolving the issues that preceded the child’s removal from the family home. When a return to the natural family is not possible and is unsafe, adoption is chosen as a means of giving the child the stability of a “forever family” and home.

Bringing hope to any child is a difficult task,
but AGAPE is up to the challenge.

Medically Fragile Foster Care Program

AGAPE also is able to serve children with special medical needs. These children also come into our private family foster homes through the State Department of Human Resources. These special foster families go through hours of additional training in medical issues management/medical matters and are able to meet the various needs of caring for children who may have feeding tubes, may have been shaken babies, or have other chronic conditions.

Continuum-of-Care Program

AGAPE is proud to be a partner in a new collaboration, named the North Alabama Alliance. This Alliance, in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Human Resources, is actively involved in a “family preservation” effort called a Continuum-of-Care. In this program, social workers work intensively with children and their families before the child is ever removed from that home, or before a foster home placement is needed. The parents are given resources, ongoing support and coaching to achieve their goal of ensuring the child/children can remain safely within their family home.