Membership Highlight: One Church One Child

On January 13, 2011 One Church One Child held a dedication service and ribbon cutting for its new Headquarters Office in Tallahassee and invited community partners to participate in a roundtable discussion on disparity and disproportionality issues facing minority children in foster care.

One Church One Child has operated, statewide, in Florida since 1988 and is recognized as Florida’s premier, faith-based leader in promoting and supporting adoption of children.  While One Church One Child is inclusive and  recruits all families, its particular focus is on permanency initiatives for minority children, who currently have a placement rate of approximately 33%, and tend to linger in foster care.

In efforts to provide greater access and awareness to prospective families, One Church One Child is placing, in churches across Florida, a kiosk and photo listing book with pictures and briefs of waiting children.  All families recruited and wish to complete the approval process are referred to community based care agencies in their respective localities.  OCOC also tracks the families as they move through the approval process and supports the local provider agencies to enhance retention efforts.  Partner churches are also asked to encourage and support the families who are adopting children.

OCOC promotion initiatives include co-hosting kickoff events with the Department of Children and Families and the Local Community Based Care Lead Agency in various cities across Florida to recruit partner churches and potential families.

The statewide goal of One Church One Child is to work in partnership with all of the Community Based Care Lead Agencies, Florida Department of Children and Families, and the faith communities to help increase permanency for Florida’s waiting children and support for families.