Children's services
Residential
Care
Florida Baptist Children's Homes operates campuses
in Miami,
Fort
Myers, Lakeland,
Jacksonville,
Tallahassee
and Pensacola.
These campuses serve school-age boys and girls in family-style residences, which we sometimes refer to as "cottages."
Typically, there are bedrooms for one, two or three children each, a family room,
living room, kitchen and laundry room. Each residence accommodates up
to eight children at a time and each is staffed with live-in Christian child care workers, who are sometimes referred to as "house parents."
Are you a former resident of Florida Baptist Children's Homes? If so, you may want to catch up with some old friends. Check out our list of former residents' e-mail addresses, and list your own so that others may find you.
Emergency Shelter Care
We provide Emergency Shelter care for school-age children at our campuses in Lakeland and Miami. The shelters are 24-hour intake facilities that are designed for short-term care for boys and girls who are in a crisis and need immediate placement. These children may be homeless, abused, neglected, or caught up in an insurmountable family conflict. Because of the emergency nature of the situations, admission procedures are streamlined so these children can be accepted almost immediately.
Foster Care
Florida Baptist Children's Homes maintains a network of Christian, private foster homes throughout the state for the care and nurturing of infants, children and youth with unique physical or emotional needs. We carefully screen and train our foster parents, closely monitor the children we place in their home, and provide subsidy for the children's expenses.
If you're interested in becoming a foster parent, please read more about this ministry.
Maternity Care
We provide counseling and/or foster care for girls and women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. We help them get proper care and prepare for parenting or placing for adoption.
Adoptions
Florida Baptist Children's Homes seeks to place some boys and girls with an adoptive family in cases where that would be in the child's best interest. We also conduct home studies for families who are adopting through other agencies, either domestically or internationally. If you're interested in adopting, please read more about this ministry.
Continuing Education
We provide assistance to boys and girls in our care who are ready for college, vocational school or specialized training. Loan and scholarship funds are made available by donors.
After Care
Florida Baptist Children's Homes continues to monitor and counsel children after they return home, are adopted, go off to school, etc.
Referrals
We make recommendations to other social service agencies or professional practitioners when needs are beyond the Children's Homes' capacity or scope (examples: physical or mental handicaps, delinquency, drug/alcohol dependency, etc.)
