Bethany Christian Services is a Christian faith-based organization that works to bring and keep families together through services in many countries. These services include foster care, family support, and adoption. These services have been designed to allow children to stay in their home country, with a local family whenever possible.
Bethany Christian Services has offices in:
Contact this organization about:
Organization Size
Headquarters Location
901 Eastern Ave NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
United States
Organization Type
Main Areas of Work
Residential Care Service Transition Support
Supports they have offered, or plan to offer, include:
- Introducing the importance of family care and reintegration to leaders in the organization
- Strategy and planning for the transition, including organizational assessments and analyses
- Donor and board engagement
- Community awareness raising and engagement
- Partnerships
- Government engagement and linking to systems reforms
- Assessments of children and families
- Family tracing
- Preparing children and families for transition
- Social work or case management training or support
- Staffing adjustments or training
- Use of buildings and other assets
- Developing new programs, including:
- Family and community strengthening
- Alternative family care (including kinship care, foster care, adoption, etc)
- General coaching or consultation
- Onsite training
- Onsite visits/meetings
- Phone calls/video conference
- Provision of standards and written guidance or tools for transitioning
- Connecting with others or building a network
Bethany determines which organizations to partner with on a case by case basis.
Foster Care
Temporary foster care placements. Includes assessments, case management, and post-placement follow up
Foster-to-Adopt
Assessing families for permanency following foster care placements. Includes placement and post-placement follow up
Family Preservation
Keeping families together by providing essential supports and trainings
Family Empowerment
Empowering families to thrive through essential supports and trainings
Humanitarian/Refugee Services
Providing services to refugees living in camp settings based on current needs. Largely focused on mental health service provision.
- Refugee Services in Cúcuta: Bethany's welcome center in Cúcuta serves refugee families (primarily from Venezuela) – including unaccompanied children – who struggle with psychosocial and mental health needs due to grief, trauma, and displacement. They provide basic services, such as food, clothing, hygiene, and first aid kits.
- Refugee Services in Bogotá: Bethany serves migrants at the main bus terminal and in the city government offices by providing referral and information services, advocacy efforts, and child-friendly spaces for children.
In-Country Adoptions
Developing and supporting programming to facilitate domestic adoptions in countries outside of the United States
Mental Health/Psychosocial Support
Providing accessible mental health and psychosocial support programming to individuals in need.
Youth Empowerment
Strengthening families and developing communities by empowering youth through trainings and support
Organization Resources
This report summarizes findings from a mixed-methods case study of innovations and challenges within four Bethany foster care locations in the U.S.: Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This publication is presented in three parts. Part 1 discusses how seeing Haitian children as part of a complex and beautiful social system can inform best practices in child care reform. Part 2 highlights eight organizations working towards family-based care and the preservation of families and communities. Part 3 provides inspiration for collective action and transformation.
This report provides initial documentation of a pilot program launched by Bethany Christian Services in 2009 in Ethiopia. The pilot aims at moving children from institutional care to family-based care by developing alternative family care for non-relative children using a foster-to-adopt approach, working through a partnership between faith communities in Ethiopia and American faith congregations in the US.
