Imagine being a child with nothing. No mother, no father, no home. There are thousands of children throughout Alabama who live with that reality. There are a number of reasons children have to leave their families and enter the foster care system. Sometimes they are victims of abuse and neglect. Sometimes they come from families where there was drug and alcohol abuse. Sometimes it is financial ruin and homelessness that bring children to AGAPE. But for whatever reason, AGAPE is able to place these children into homes thanks to the willingness and generosity of Christians throughout the state.

Agape is part of a collaboration of S.T.A.R. (Short Term Assessment and Respite). For more information about S.T.A.R., click here.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:  How can we be involved?

AGAPE provides foster care for children from birth through 18 years of age. Foster families make a difference in helping children to feel cared for, important and capable, even if it is only for a short time. The greatest gift you can give these children is yourself.

Q:  How do we get started?

The first thing to do is just call and speak with an AGAPE social worker who can discuss your individual situation and needs. The general number is 800-239-1020.

Q:  What about that "home study" that I've heard about?

AGAPE offers training and preparations to all foster families before they get started. This gives us a chance to get to know your family while you have an opportunity to learn more about both the agency and the challenges of fostering. During this time together, we will be guiding you regarding the various documents and information you need to provide us in order to comply with State standards. The actual process is not nearly so much AGAPE "studying your home" as it is our sharing information with one another and coming to a joint understanding as to how you could best be involved in caring for children.

Q:  What supports are available?

AGAPE closely supports its foster families to help with the adjustment process, visitation with birth family, educational issues, and specific counseling or psychological services that the foster child may have. There are quarterly foster parent training meetings hosted by AGAPE. The extended church family can also be important to providing the support a family needs. The model envisioned is one of a team working toward a common goal, with AGAPE helping to access and coordinate all the services the child or family may need to be successful.

Q:  Is there financial assistance?

AGAPE provides a monthly reimbursement to help take care of the child based on the child's basic needs. A clothing allotment is provided as well as reimbursement for child care expenses if you work outside the home. Medicaid, the State, and AGAPE are responsible for all medical bills and prescriptions of the child. While you should not encounter financial hardships from caring for a child, the reimbursement does not substitute for family income. Financial stability is an important factor in a family's ability to provide foster care for children.

Q:  Will the children be with us for a long time?

Foster care is designed to be temporary, with the goal being to return the child to a stable home. We do our best to provide you with a projected length of stay, but that is never easy to predict. Children may be in care from a few weeks to several months or longer; each situation is unique. AGAPE staff and foster parents are key members of the team which continually revises and updates the treatment plan for each child, so you actually have input regarding when it's time for the child to return home.

Q:  Are foster parents ever allowed to adopt the children placed with them?

State and Federal laws mandate permanency for a child in roughly a two-year time frame. If all efforts to reunify the child with his family have failed and the Court decides the child should be adopted, state law actually gives fosters parents the first right to be considered. However, it is never the expectation of the agency that in becoming a foster parent one is automatically or necessarily making a commitment to adopt, because that probably would not be the right course for every family or in every circumstance.

Q:  Does AGAPE ever need families just to care for babies temporarily?

Yes! It certainly takes a special family to buy into the diapers and spitting and no sleep routine for several weeks. It is very important to the adoption program to have stable Christian families that can love and nurtures the babies until they can go to their adoptive homes.

Q:  What about teens?

Experienced parents are needed who are willing to invest in the future of our teens. It is a special gift to give young people support and a good value base as they become adults. It is particularly rewarding to help a child find the security and stability needed in order to learn to make good life decisions.

Q:  What is "therapeutic foster care" (TFC), and does AGAPE do that?

We realize that some children's needs are so intense that they require a family who receives additional training, and can make a greater commitment in terms of time. TFC was created to meet the needs of those children by providing their foster families with additional training. AGAPE is a part of a Jefferson County TFC program called the S.T.A.R. Project. While the challenges are frequently even greater than usual, S.T.A.R. has been highly successful over the last nine years in helping children who had bleak futures find success and happiness. This program has been so positive and inspirational that some AGAPE foster parents that began in 1995 and 1996 are still active in the Project!

If you have a desire to be missionaries in your own home, call AGAPE to learn how you can be important in the life of a child.

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