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Getting to Know the Arkansas Baptist Children's Homes & Family Ministries

January 9, 2020
Getting to Know the Arkansas Baptist Children's Homes & Family Ministries

The Arkansas Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries is an agency of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention founded in 1894 and has been serving families all across the state. In 2019 they celebrated 125 years of service to Arkansas. 

ABCH provides care to children and families each year in many different ways. 

This care comes in the forms of campus care for children and teens, family care for single mothers with children, foster care, and counseling services to children, couples and families. 

Arkansas Baptist Children’s Homes is a local ministry of the Cooperative Program. When Arkansas Baptists give through their church, they are supporting these ministries and helping encourage and nurture children and families in the state of Arkansas. 


 

ABCH operates four different ministries around the state:

Campus Care is care for children and teens in two locations. The Baptist Home for Children in Monticello has five different family-style homes where children live with foster parents so they can feel safe and secure. The Baptist Ranch is located north of Harrison on 400 acres. There are four-ranch style homes that can care for up to 32 kids with houseparents looking out for them. These facilities are designed to provide children with a Christ centered, safe and secure place so they can grow spiritually, emotionally as well as physically and academically. 

Connected Foster Care is a private, licensed foster care placement service that is supported by Arkansas Southern Baptist Churches. The sole purpose of this ministry is to seek to restore children to their families. In partnership with the Arkansas Department of Children and Family Services, Connected helps recruit foster homes and trains families in 20 Arkansas counties. Hands-on support is provided by Connected, as well as local Southern Baptist churches. 

Family Care is a ministry geared toward single mothers looking for assistance to navigate their difficult circumstances. Family Care has locations in Jonesboro, Little Rock, and Springdale. Assistance ranges from a stable home to money management guidance and education/training assistance. The sole purpose of Family Care is to keep families together. 

Living Well Counseling ministry provides professionally trained Christian counselors that can minister to individuals, couples and families at different locations around the state. The goal is to bring hope and healing to those seeking it through strategies that have proven successful while also following a Christian worldview. ABCH has provided an estimated 2,300 counseling sessions a year, and thanks to Arkansas Baptists, the counseling rate is able to operate at just $75 per session. 

 

Click here to watch a tour of the new living well counseling center.