News Archives | Faith to Action

CAFO Webinar on Protecting Vulnerable Children with Wise & Honoring Media

Next Wednesday, March 16th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the sixth in a monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. This webinar is called “Protecting Vulnerable Children with Wise and Honoring Media" and will take place next Wednesday from 2-3pm Eastern. Films and photos are a critical part of advocacy. Oftentimes, it is through sharing stories and images of vulnerable children that we are able to inspire a heart for caring for the fatherless. However, despite [...]

CAFO Webinar on Protecting Vulnerable Children with Wise & Honoring MediaAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:30:01-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Holistic Development for Babies and Young Children

Next Wednesday, February 10th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the fifth in a monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. This webinar is called “Empowering Caregivers: Holistic Development for Babies and Young Children" and will take place next Wednesday from 11am – 12pm Eastern. The early child period is considered to be the most important developmental phase throughout the lifespan. The environmental conditions to which children are exposed, especially the quality of relationships with caregivers [...]

CAFO Webinar on Holistic Development for Babies and Young ChildrenAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:27:30-05:00

Bethany Christian Services Announces New Program in Haiti

Bethany Global, a division of Bethany Christian Services (BCS), announced the launch of social services in Haiti that will serve and support foster care. Partnering with a local church in Port-Au-Prince, Bethany is currently recruiting families to undergo its rigorous foster care training program, and anticipates serving 60 children by summer 2016. In spring 2014, Bethany launched a small project in Haiti called Operation Exodus, working with vulnerable families living in the tent cities around Port-Au-Prince. This project serves to strengthen families through economic and psychosocial support. Relocation to safe housing is a priority, but so is financial sustainability, [...]

Bethany Christian Services Announces New Program in HaitiAllison Coble2024-01-17T19:37:48-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Empowering Caregivers

This Wednesday, January 13th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the fourth in a monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. This webinar is called “Empowering Caregivers: Practical Parenting Training (Adolescent Edition)" and will take place on Wednesday from 11am – 12pm Eastern. Research and common knowledge both suggest that the most influential relationship in a child's life is with his or her caregiver. A strong caregiver relationship can limit the effects of trauma, increase a child's [...]

CAFO Webinar on Empowering CaregiversAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:25:33-05:00

New Better Care Network Working Paper on Gatekeeping

Published jointly with UNICEF, Better Care Network has recently released a new working paper focused on the role of gatekeeping in strengthening family-based care and reforming alternative care systems. Gatekeeping refers to systematic procedures aimed at ensuring that alternative care for children is used only when necessary, and that the type of care provided is suitable to the individual child. This Working Paper reviews different approaches to gatekeeping in five countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Moldova, and Rwanda. In each context, the working paper explores what has and has not worked, analyzes lessons learned from practice, and reflects on the implications for improving policy [...]

New Better Care Network Working Paper on GatekeepingAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:24:17-05:00

Displacement and Family Separation for Syrian Refugee Children

Tags: Community Strengthening According to the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since WWII, having surpassed 50 million people who have been forced to leave their homes as refugees, as asylum seekers, or as internally displaced persons (IDPs) within their home countries. This massive increase is driven largely by the civil war in Syria, which will reach the five-year mark in a few months. According to World Vision, “The crisis in Syria affects more than 12 million people—more than those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti [...]

Displacement and Family Separation for Syrian Refugee ChildrenAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:23:26-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Family Reintegration

This Wednesday, December 9th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the third in a monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. This webinar is called “Family Reintegration: Achieving Balance Between Empowering Families and Safeguarding Children” and will take place on Wednesday from 2 PM – 3 PM Eastern. Kate Riordan, Senior Advocacy Advisor at Family for Every Child will explore how to keep families intact and reunite separated families with proper safe-guarding; how to prevent the factors that [...]

CAFO Webinar on Family ReintegrationAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:21:31-05:00

CAFO Webinar on How to Be a Welcoming Church for Special Needs Foster & Adoptive Families

Today, November 18th from 2-3pm EST, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will host a webinar on helping welcome and support special needs foster and adoptive families. As special needs and older child programs are on the rise, this means churches need to be prepared to accommodate families affected by disability or complex trauma. Shannon Dingle will share five ways your church can be a safe place for these children and teens, drawing from experience as a special educator, a disability ministry leader, and a mom to six by birth and adoption. You can register for this webinar here. [...]

CAFO Webinar on How to Be a Welcoming Church for Special Needs Foster & Adoptive FamiliesAllison Coble2024-01-17T18:06:15-05:00

New Journeys of Faith Study Series Materials Now Available!

Sunday, November 8th is Orphan Sunday, an opportunity for Christians around the world to collectively impel and activate church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan. In celebration of Orphan Sunday, Faith to Action is pleased to announce the launch of our new Journeys of Faith Study Series! This series, Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children: A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith, provides an introduction and overview on topics related to family-based care for orphans and vulnerable children. The series was developed in response to the Journeys of Faith pilot study completed last year. [...]

New Journeys of Faith Study Series Materials Now Available!Allison Coble2024-03-11T11:37:40-04:00

CAFO Webinar on Gatekeeping

This Wednesday, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the second in a new monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. October's webinar focused on child protection policy. You can view this webinar here. The second webinar is called “Gatekeeping: Reducing Unnecessary Entry Into Alternative Care" and will take place on Wednesday, November 4th from 2 PM – 3 PM EST. Dr. Delia Pop of Hope and Homes for Children will explore effective methods for identifying families at [...]

CAFO Webinar on GatekeepingAllison Coble2024-01-17T18:03:58-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Optimizing Your Child Protection Policy

This Wednesday, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will launch the first in a new monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars will translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. The first webinar is called "Optimizing Your Child Protection Policy: Five Key Components For Keeping Children Safe" and will take place on Wednesday, October 21st from 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EDT. For more information or to register, please visit CAFO's website.

CAFO Webinar on Optimizing Your Child Protection PolicyAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:59:03-05:00

An Introduction to Better Volunteering on Behalf of Orphans and Vulnerable Children

In recent years, a trend has been on the rise where travelers and short-term mission groups volunteer in residential care facilities with children. When traveling to economically poor countries, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the difficulties that orphans and vulnerable children face, and it is natural to want to take action, but how we engage can make a world of difference. Motivations for volunteering are diverse, and most visitors have good intentions. Many Christian groups have made these types of visits to orphanages during short-term missions trips to provide care for orphans. Other volunteers make this part [...]

An Introduction to Better Volunteering on Behalf of Orphans and Vulnerable ChildrenAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:52:47-05:00

Continuum of Care Resources Now Available!

Faith to Action is excited to announce the launch of three new resources on the continuum of care. The continuum of care provides an overview of a range of alternative care options for children who have been separated from parental care. In keeping with research and evidence-based guidance on the importance of family in the life of a child, the continuum places a high priority on family care while also recognizing the role that temporary residential care and small group homes can play in the spectrum of options to meet individual situations and needs. The continuum of care highlights [...]

Continuum of Care Resources Now Available!Allison Coble2024-01-17T17:50:43-05:00

Webinar on Transition to Family-Based Care

Next Wednesday, July 22nd, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will be hosting a webinar related to their "Replicable Models of Transition to Family-Based Care," project. Leaders from Buckner International, ACCIR, and the Akola Project, and will join CAFO President Jedd Medefind and answer audience questions, in addition to presenting on their own experiences. The Faith to Action Initiative is hopeful that many organizations and churches will join the webinar and be inspired to make steps toward engaging in and supporting family-based care. The webinar is scheduled for 2-3:30pm EDT. Register for free today! If you're not able to join [...]

Webinar on Transition to Family-Based CareAllison Coble2024-01-17T17:46:49-05:00

The Justice Conference

Faith to Action is excited to participate in the Justice Conference through this weekend in Chicago, IL. The Justice Conference is a premier gathering for Christian leaders, justice practitioners, students, and learners from all over the world. The conference seeks to leverage the power of community and catalyze the work of justice globally, nationally, locally and personally. The Justice Conference is presented by World Relief and in partnership with several other Christian organizations living out values of justice in work with orphans, widow, racial reconciliation, peace, and so many other salient topics that are critical to the Church today. [...]

The Justice ConferenceAllison Coble2024-01-17T19:16:44-05:00

Webinar on Key Evidence-Based Strategies to Protect Vulnerable Children

On Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 2pm EST, Christian Alliance For Orphans (CAFO) will host a webinar titled, "Key Evidence-Based Strategies to Protect Vulnerable Children from Violence, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation." The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) has identified a combination of intervention-based actions essential to the protection of children against violence. These complementary interventions, known as THRIVES, are designed to guide countries as they choose a combination of strategies that together have the greatest potential for impact. THRIVES strategies cross health, social services, education, finance, and justice sectors. They include: training in parenting; household economic strengthening; reduced [...]

Webinar on Key Evidence-Based Strategies to Protect Vulnerable ChildrenAllison Coble2024-01-17T19:15:31-05:00

Faith to Action at CAFO 2015

This week Faith to Action is attending the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Applied Research & Best Practice Symposium and Christian Alliance for Orphans’ CAFO 2015 Summit. The Symposium looks at evidence-based practices for OVC researchers and practitioners and the Summit brings together nearly 3,000 orphan care advocates, pastors, leaders, and foster and adoptive parents from over 35 countries. The event seeks to inspire and equip Christians to care for orphans with wisdom-guided love through exploration family preservation and global orphan ministry, foster care and adoption. The CAFO Summit has become the national hub for what Christianity Today called, “the [...]

Faith to Action at CAFO 2015Allison Coble2024-01-17T19:13:28-05:00

International Wholistic Missions Conference in Peoria, AZ this week!

The International Wholistic Missions Conference will commence for a third time April 29th through May 1st in Peoria, AZ with the goal of equipping Christians, churches and organization for word and deed ministries that transform lives and communities. This year's theme is "The Whole Church on Mission" with tracks for On Mission to the Poor, the City, the Workplace and more. As part of the track for On Mission to a Broken World, Leadership Council member Elli Oswald will represent Faith to Action. Elli will facilitate a workshop on Orphans and Vulnerable Children: How Churches Can Support Family and [...]

International Wholistic Missions Conference in Peoria, AZ this week!Allison Coble2024-01-17T19:13:10-05:00

OVC Resources for you!

Faith to Action is excited to share a great resource with our networks. Since the relaunch of OVCsupport.org in July of last year, there has been a rejuvenated sense of collaboration and sharing of additional resources produced by the OVC community. OVCsupport has been hard at work in their mission to make as much of it as possible easily accessible through their What’s new? blog, featuring articles, announcements, and their expanded news of the week feature, as well as through our ever-growing resource database. Sign up for the OVCsupport bulletin in order to bring some of the highlights directly [...]

OVC Resources for you!Allison Coble2024-01-17T19:11:53-05:00

Global Leadership Network (GLN) 2015

This week Faith to Action will be participating in The Chalmer Center's GLN 2015. Chalmers' work focuses on helping churches understand poverty, poverty alleviation, and equips churches to better understand how to shift toward a healthier framework of engaging low-income communities in order to empower the poorest of the poor. The GLN 2015 conference will explore helping without hurting in short-term missions as well as church-centered poverty alleviation approaches that empower the poor. Faith to Action is excited to join the conversation and establish relationships with churches and other leaders focused on poverty alleviation best practices. We are also looking forward [...]

Global Leadership Network (GLN) 2015Allison Coble2024-01-17T19:09:14-05:00