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Safe Families for Children

Host a child before the state has to

Volunteer families take a child in for days or weeks while a parent handles a crisis — hospital stay, housing loss, treatment — with no court involvement and the parent keeping custody throughout. Hosts are interviewed, trained, background-checked, and home-screened much like foster carers.

VerifiedOrphan & foster careInterdenominational
Visit organizationsafe-families.org ↗

Why this is listed

This is prevention rather than rescue: the aim is that the child never enters the state system and the parent gets their child back, which is a different bet from most orphan-care work. If foster care is on your mind but not yet in your reach, start here.

How to start

  1. Open safe-families.org (opens an external site) and read what Safe Families for Children says about itself before you read anything else.
  2. Check the time it asks for: weeks.
  3. Look at the filings below, then decide. Numbers are context, not a verdict.
  4. Tell your church. Going out is rarely meant to be done alone.

Guides that point here

Close to this

  • Orphan & foster careProvisional

    Support a foster family with DC127

    DC127

    A coalition of D.C. churches working to empty the city’s foster-care waiting list: it recruits and supports foster and kinship families, and runs a Communities for Families programme that steps in early to keep at-risk children out of care in the first place. You can foster or join a team that wraps around a foster family.

    Time
    Ongoing
    Where
    Washington, District of Columbia, United States
    Area
    Orphan & foster care

    Last verified September 20, 2026

  • Orphan & foster careVerified

    Anchored Hope

    Anchored Hope

    Christ-centered transitional housing for young adults aging out of foster care. Supported by Christ Community Church.

    Time
    Ongoing
    Where
    Ames, Iowa, United States
    Area
    Orphan & foster care

    Last verified October 7, 2026

  • Orphan & foster careProvisional

    Arizona 1.27

    Arizona 1.27

    Mobilizes churches to support children and families affected by foster care. Supported by Christ’s Church of Flagstaff.

    Time
    Ongoing
    Where
    Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
    Area
    Orphan & foster care

    Last verified October 7, 2026

Before you go

Something to read, watch or listen to before you show up. From Ripened Harvest; the picks change each day.

  • Family & childrenVerified

    The Torchlighters: Heroes of the Faith

    Christian History Institute

    Half-hour animated biographies of real Christians — Tyndale, Perpetua, John Bunyan, Corrie ten Boom, Richard Wurmbrand, Jim Elliot, Harriet Tubman, Adoniram and Ann Judson. Each episode takes one life, one crisis, and one decision, and is aimed squarely at eight- to twelve-year-olds.

    Cost
    Varies
    Time
    Weeks
    Where
    Online
    Who for
    Older children · Series

    Last verified September 8, 2026

  • Reading plansProvisional

    F260 Foundations Bible Reading Plan

    Replicate Ministries

    A 260-day plan that reads the storyline of all 66 books in one year at five readings a week, built for whole churches and families to read together. Each day uses the H.E.A.R. journaling method: highlight, explain, apply, respond.

    Cost
    Varies
    Time
    Months
    Where
    Online
    Format
    Reading plan · Introductory

    Last verified October 24, 2026

  • Catechesis & discipleshipVerified

    The New City Catechism

    The Gospel Coalition

    Fifty-two questions and answers drawn from the Heidelberg and Westminster catechisms, one a week for a year, with a short and a long form of each answer so a child and an adult can learn the same thing. Free app and web version carry a Scripture proof, a short commentary, and a prayer for each question.

    Cost
    Free
    Time
    Weekly rhythm
    Where
    Online
    Format
    App · Introductory

    Last verified September 8, 2026