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Welcome to The Foster Friendly Podcast. We’re bringing foster care closer to home by sharing stories from the front lines. We're talking with former foster youth, foster parents and others who are finding unique and powerful ways to dramatically improve the experiences and outcomes for kids in foster care.
The Foster Friendly podcast is brought to you by America’s Kids Belong, a nonprofit that helps kids in foster care find belonging in both family and community.
Brian (00:01.495)
Welcome to the Fosterer Friendly podcast. I'm Brian Mavis and I have my co-host Courtney Williams with me. And today we have a special guest, Dr. Sharon Ford, and she will explore with us how effective public and private partnerships have. That's easy enough for me to say. And how collaborating is necessary.
in order to accomplish this work in order to have better outcomes for kids in foster care and the families that take care of them. So let me share her official bio, but then I want to share something a little bit personal. So Dr. Sharon Ford is a nationally recognized child welfare consultant and retired manager for permanency services for the Colorado Department of Human Services in the division of child welfare. She retired with 30 years of comprehensive work history.
with the department and currently serves as the director for foster care and adoption at Focus on the Family. So she knows what she's talking about. That's what that says. Now, here's the thing. Dr. Courtney, you probably don't know this. There would be no America's Kids Belong.
Courtney (01:12.233)
That one's a little bit...
Sharen Ford (01:14.83)
Yeah.
Brian (01:29.596)
if it weren't for Dr. Ford. She was the early advocate mentor. She was the person who
how do I say this kind of opened doors and took some of the arrows and stuff when it came to collaboration. When Colorado was at its best in public private partnerships, it was because of Dr. Ford's influence at this state. so, and I would say I'm not the only one who would say this. I I'm not saying just me and my wife, but she was also
instrumental with Project 127 as well. So if it weren't for Dr. Ford, we wouldn't be in this like we are. again, when it was at its best, she was the one responsible for it. So Sharon, thank you so much for what you've done. It continues to have ripple effects.
Sharen Ford (02:45.422)
Roy, thank you first of all for those kind words. You know, God puts us in places for strategic seasons of time. And there are windows that He opens and He puts people strategically ready to go through those doors or through those windows. He had you and your beautiful wife ready to go through that door. I remember sitting in a restaurant by the state capitol.
Brian (02:56.377)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (03:13.613)
Yes, yes, I have.
Sharen Ford (03:15.562)
dreaming with you, dreaming with her, with Julie about, boy, the what ifs and the opportunities that could make a difference in the lives of children and families that are, whether they're their birth family, their foster family or adopted family, or those families that wrap around support. We dreamed and through those hours of conversations,
Brian (03:19.371)
huh. Yeah.
Sharen Ford (03:41.314)
God manifested the work for you and Julie and America Kids Belong to do. And I am so, so grateful for that.
Brian (03:49.581)
Yeah, that's a I mean, by the way to our listeners, Dr. Ford is a gifted from God speaker communicator. And just right there, I want to highlight what she said about seasons and assignments from God. so pay attention to that in your own life, what what season you're in and what assignment God might have for you. All right. So
I'll pause for a moment and Courtney, this is your opportunity to ask some questions and meet Dr. Ford. What's on your mind?
Courtney (04:26.143)
Yeah. Well, actually, Brian, I did know that story. So I just wanted to share. Yeah, because I came to your house about six years ago. I started volunteering first for America's Kids Belong. And Julie and I would sit upstairs in the upstairs of your house and we'd sit on the floor and we were packaging things and I was helping, you know, hand hand writing names on postcards and whatever else. And as we would sit there, Julie was telling me the history of AKB. And she very clearly made it known that Dr. Sharon Ford is a huge partner.
Brian (04:30.019)
you did?
Brian (04:36.014)
Yes.
Brian (04:43.758)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (04:54.552)
good.
Courtney (04:55.139)
So, and I remember her saying, you know who Dr. Sharon Ford is? was like, of course I do. I live in Colorado, of course you know who she is when you're in the city. So yeah, it is again, just a testimony to who you are, the fact that she was sharing that with me six years ago and I still remember it today.
Brian (05:08.887)
Hmm.
Sharen Ford (05:09.784)
I think the testimony for me is that people, men and women of God, know that they are to be His hands and feet. And they don't let what some would see as barriers, stop them from moving forward, knowing that God will eventually move those barriers. But if you never step in the river, then He'll never part the sea. If you never move forward, then you'll stay
where you are and the change that could have happened will be greatly delayed from happening. And so it's not that it won't ever happen, but it'll be greatly delayed and maybe God won't use you. He'll have to use somebody else because you never stepped in. And so even listening and hearing that you and Julie were sitting on the floor, putting packages together, how important that is because those packages were going to touch the life of somebody else. And that's what collaboration is all about.
us coming together. Yes, no man is an island. First of all, no man is an island. Okay? God uses people collectively. Two or three are gathered in His name. He's there in the midst. And so He wants to use us to do that work. And so I just love hearing about what you've been doing, Courtney, and with AKB.
Courtney (06:33.175)
Yeah. Well, thank you. Let's dive more into you a little bit and learn more about you and who you are as an individual, about yourself and your current role that you're doing right now.
Sharen Ford (06:44.312)
Well, I'm a mom of a beautiful young woman who has recently gotten her doctorate in social emotional learning. Woohoo, so proud of my baby girl. I'm also a grandmother and my grandson is in his sophomore year at an historically black college in the South. And so woohoo, a shout out, we call him easy.
Brian (06:56.857)
Yeah. I knew she was on that journey.
Brian (07:10.507)
Yeah.
Courtney (07:10.519)
Yeah.
Sharen Ford (07:13.246)
because his name is Ezrin Zuriel Rice. And so we call him E.C. for short. I'm currently working at Focus on the Family as the Director for Foster Care and Adoption. And our ministry has a wonderful opportunity to engage constituents all over the United States through our website. Prior to COVID, we used to go to states doing live events, but post-COVID,
Brian (07:17.385)
You
Sharen Ford (07:42.21)
We have transitioned everything to our website. And so there's all kinds of free information. It's from a biblical worldview. There are articles, there are downloadables. We just want to be able to give families information when they want it, or in a way that they can reach it, whether it's on their phone, their tablet, or their computer.
that they can have access to that information. And they can even have access to me. They can go to our website, which is waitnomore.org and click on it and say, contact us. And the email that they send actually comes to me for me to respond to them. And so love it that we have our website. And then our other main interest is we want to be able to give kids who are in the foster care system dignity. And this is something that
My daughter, when she was a caseworker in Denver County, in Colorado, she was on the adolescent team and she really worked hard to make sure that every Christmas that the kids on her caseload had a Christmas gift. And then one year God spoke to her and said, these kids should not have to take their things around in trash bags. And so she actually had a case
Brian (08:49.807)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (08:54.445)
because of that.
Sharen Ford (09:02.646)
that God just really spoke to her heart about. And she came to our family and said, mom, we need to give these kids a suitcase. They can't go through the airport with their things. I'm giving you the very short, short version. Take their things through the airport with their things in trash bags. And so our family came together, bought the kids not only suitcases, but other things so that they can go and travel and be placed in another state. And so.
We call that our suitcase bundle program here at Focus and our donors willingly give dollars so that we can gift to children of all ages in the foster care system a brand new duffel bag suitcase. It's a 30 inch bag. They also get a teddy bear and an age appropriate Bible. They're new. don't, nothing's used. I know there's a time and a place for used suitcases, but for the, our donors, we want to be able to.
use their funds to get brand new suitcases. And we actually ship them to the church or ship them to a bridge organization that's working with foster care organizations in their state and the community so that those children can have those items. Thus far, we've given out almost 40,000 brand new suitcase bundles. And this year, we're gearing up to send out 13,000 more.
Courtney (10:22.754)
now.
Brian (10:22.925)
Well, Sharon, you just said something that I also had a flashback to almost 30 years ago. My wife and I were working on an orphanage in Honduras. And on this particular day, a group of youth pastors came and they came with gifts and they had the kids lined up from youngest to oldest. And they had like
electronic stuff and cars and dolls, like, you hard dolls. And then they had teddy bears. And they went from youngest to oldest to go get a toy. And there were about 20 kids there. And with the youngest being around two, the oldest around 17. And every kid picked a teddy bear.
And we were just reflecting on that. was like interesting that when these other more cool toys that they chose to have something that felt comforting. interesting. Well, hey, so you talking about seasons and in your season of vocational work, one of your longest seasons was working with the government. And that is a mystery to most people, I think.
Sharen Ford (11:29.88)
Yes, yes.
Courtney (11:45.763)
Thank
Sharen Ford (11:46.286)
Okay.
Brian (11:48.111)
and they're a little bit intimidated by it. They don't even know where to start. so could you help orient us a little bit and in particular help us understand the difference between what like a state or county agency is and what a private agency is and then how do those work together?
Sharen Ford (12:11.246)
Certainly. Interestingly enough, when I came to state government, I came to the Division of Child Welfare, but I was on the child protection side of the division. you learn a lot about those cases that are workers who are doing that investigation of abuse and neglect, those referral calls that come in, and there are so many more referrals that come in.
Brian (12:39.117)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (12:39.606)
And lots of them are screened out. There's not a reason to base that. Sometimes it's the lady down the street just really upset with the neighbors. And it's like, no, that's not a valid reason for us to go out and investigate. And then there's the family that's going through a divorce and the mother-in-law is calling and saying, no, no, no. Sometimes there's issues, but lots of times there's not.
Brian (12:54.147)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (13:06.223)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (13:09.1)
tank. And then there's the cases of where, you know, here's a child who's early on, go, it's too early in the day for a child that young to be outside. What's going on? And so a reasonable person says we need to go out and investigate. And we do. We find out there's a lack of supervision. And so here's an opportunity for state government to do what it's supposed to do. Investigate. Are children safe?
That's state government's responsibility is to do that investigation piece. And when there are issues that can be resolved by putting supportive services in the home or referring that family to services in the community, there's not a need to remove a child and place them in out of home care. That's one piece of government's role. But when government does remove a child, it's their responsibility to recruit
families who would safely care for a child, make sure that you've done the appropriate investigation of that family, that prospective foster family, knowing that they're healthy and that they have reasonable things going on in their life, that they wouldn't put that child who's coming into their home at risk. So, being a foster care, finding families who will be foster parents, who would help.
that keep those children safe until they can go back home. So that's a role of state government. And so in my career, I had the opportunity to do, you know, be involved in that. So that's all government side. So whether a state is state supervised or county, that's state administered or county administered, Colorado is a state supervised county administered system. Colorado.
has 64 county departments of human and social services. Most states are state administered like Texas, like, who else is? Well, almost all the states are state run. California is not, Pennsylvania is not, New York is not. But most states are state run and all the workers are state workers.
Sharen Ford (15:33.708)
makes a difference about how you do your administration, how you do your policy, how you do your supervision of who's doing the work. In a private agency, those agencies are much smaller, like a Buckner, like Lifeline Children's Services, like Olivecrest. Those are some organizations that are faith-based. They are licensed.
by state government and they are reviewed by state government, how they practice, and they must adhere to all the same policies that a county department or a state department has to adhere to too. They have to hire workers who have certain levels of education and credentials. They have to make sure that those workers are getting the right levels of ongoing training, not just one and done, but ongoing training to make sure that their credentials are still up to standard.
State government is operating by, you know, whatever state rules that are in place. And those licensed child placement agencies come under those same kind of rules. But they also get to, agencies get to operate under what is their, what is their mission? What is the vision? What is their board? Ultimately, if they're faith based, what does the Lord say? What does their statement of faith say?
about how they will practice and interact with families. That is a huge difference. State government has a mission and it's very political, very policy-based, a licensed child placement agency, and therefore there are faith-based licensed child placement agencies and non-faith-based, but they all have a mission and a vision. Those who are faith-based have a...
statement of faith that they want families to know this is what these are our standards this is how we're going to treat you and this is how we want you to know this is how we're going to interact with you and this is how we're going to serve you. Both agencies are in the service business. How that service plays out is very different. Very, very different.
Courtney (17:52.906)
So great explanation and of understanding the difference between the two I've read. don't know if this is current right now, but there are 10 states that are the way that Colorado does it where it's like county by county versus the state ran. But like you said, most of them are, you that you got the whole state kind of doing the same thing. But OK, so if a parent is interested in fostering, they see that they're wherever they live, you know, there might be some not all states have CPAs, but most of them do have child placing agencies plus counties or however they're
ran again, but how would somebody go about making that choice or making a decision to say, this is the right route for my family and because of this, like, what would that look like?
Sharen Ford (18:31.564)
I appreciate you saying that not all states have licensed child placement agencies because they don't. I think some of the Dakotas, I don't think they have licensed child placement agencies there in either one. And so it's important for families to do their homework. And I always ask people, did you go to an orientation? That orientation, the only thing that's going to cost you is your time.
Brian (18:54.915)
Thank
Sharen Ford (18:58.882)
Because you get to hear the philosophy and the mindset about that organization at that orientation. Listen to that. I also encourage people to go on the website and see what the organization says about itself. The other thing you can do is look at the licensing. Every state has to review the practices in their state. So the state legislature has an audit committee.
that looks at the practices of state government. For child placement agencies, the state, and I know I participated in this in my previous role, would audit those licensed child placement agencies and there would make be findings about how they practice. You can go and look at that information on the state's website to get that information. And so coupled with that, and also so critical,
Talk to people who are already certified by the county as a foster parent. Talk to people who are already licensed, approved by a licensed child placement agent. Talk to them if they're serving as a foster parent so that they get a flavor about that organization. Because it's so important they decide for themselves after being informed, that they make an informed decision about which one I can work with. Because hopefully it is a more than a year.
engagement, more of a year commitment, that they're there for the kids and that they're finding the place that they can serve best.
Courtney (20:33.419)
Yes.
Brian (20:33.487)
Sharon, I want to camp out here for another minute. I have like a two part question. One is, why would a state contract with a private agency? why not just do it themselves? And part two of that question is, I think our listeners, some of them might be surprised to find out that they would contract with an agency that is faith based.
And that seems like, isn't there like a separation between, you know, faith and government? And so help us understand that.
Sharen Ford (21:11.086)
First of all, I want to go on record as saying there is nothing in the Constitution that says that there is a separation between state and faith and government. It is a myth. It says something else, but it doesn't say that. Secondly, I think that state governments and I want to say this.
Brian (21:22.883)
Yeah, yeah.
Right. It's a letter.
Brian (21:30.809)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (21:38.87)
So there are counties in Colorado that do not work with licensed child placement agencies, even though they could. They want to do the work themselves. And so for the states that can do licensed child placement agencies, it's because they need more families than they have the staffing capacity themselves.
Brian (21:48.857)
Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (22:08.686)
to handle the work. Boy, if you only need 10 foster homes and you have three or four staff on your team, you can handle that. But if you need 100, 200, 500 foster homes, unless your county's budget, unless the state budget gives you that kind of money to have that kind of a workforce, because every month someone has to be in that home. You have to be looking at all the paperwork. You have to be able to
Brian (22:17.923)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (22:38.328)
to be responsive and get there within a reasonable amount of time. There's lots and lots of layers of work and paperwork that that all involves. So if you're not staffed to do that work, it's easier for you to contract that out and then just oversee the people who are doing that contracting.
Brian (22:57.295)
to.
Sharen Ford (22:58.252)
And why, so the other part is why would they, there's, remember there's faith-based and nonprofit just regular. I think that there are states that value working with a faith-based organization. I think about in Florida, For Kids. For Kids is a large faith-based foster care agency and the state of Florida has had a contract with them forever.
Brian (23:06.894)
You hear it?
Brian (23:27.663)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (23:28.042)
and they are pleased to see the positive outcomes, not only for the children that have come into those placements, but the number of reunifications that have occurred because of the family's commitment to reunification and the ministry's commitment to reunification and for those kids who haven't been able to return home, the commitment to those children to say, we're going to stick with you to the long haul so that...
There's even an aftercare program. And so there's a different level of kind of commitment from faith-based organizations than there are from just regular nonprofit organizations.
Brian (24:06.605)
Yeah, yeah, some advantages there. So from the government's perspective, what would they say is the primary goal of foster care?
Sharen Ford (24:20.792)
From a government perspective, the primary goal of foster care is to remove children who are unsafe, who cannot be safely maintained in the home that they're in. And to remove them only for a long enough period of time to help that child or children get the healing and supports that they need while the parents or whoever the caregivers were of those children to work through their issues.
whether it's anger management, getting treatment services, getting drug and alcohol, getting appropriate housing, being able to get a job or realign their finances so that they can keep stable housing so that those children can safely be returned home. That's the primary goal of foster care.
Brian (25:12.461)
That was a good comprehensive explanation.
Courtney (25:17.443)
Yeah, and a follow up question to that. I'm assuming a lot of our listeners today are going to be faith-based families because they might know who you are already. Some of might not be, but when we're speaking to these faith-based communities or families, I often hear, like, I can't get into this because I can't be pro-reunification in the sense of they're going to go back home to messiness. And I've got a Christian home, and so I've got this. And in a sense, the kids should stay in my home.
And we know, like three of us know like the reality behind that, but can you speak to people that kind of have that mentality or how can we change that mentality in these faith-based homes that might feel like the better than in a sense home?
Sharen Ford (25:57.038)
I have those kinds of conversations all the time. All the time. You know, it is a mindset. And I ask people to think about how they came up. Did you come up in a perfect home? Was everything, you know, had its place and in its place? And so why would we want to deprive a child from being with their blood?
Brian (25:59.599)
Thank
Courtney (26:00.291)
Yeah.
Sharen Ford (26:26.646)
relative, so long as they can safely be with them. The old saying, blood is thicker than water. There is something about family. Now God grows us, we're all the family of the body of Christ, yes. But there's something about being with your family, people who share culture and name and experiences and history.
All of that helps to shape and make you who you are. And I wouldn't want to permanently take a child from that if I didn't have to. And so helping people to understand, gosh, your home is a sweet, safe haven for that child for a moment. But boy, the love of Christ, God redeemed us all. And so let's have that redemption.
peace in our mind, how can we work to help that child, that birth parent be in their redemption walk, get their kids back again? And even after they've come back home, if God asks you to, can you walk alongside that birth mama, that birth papa, that grandparent, that aunt or uncle, and help them in their stability so that the kids don't have to be removed ever again? You can be the new aunt, the new uncle.
the new, you're the extended family, but those kids get to go back home again. And so I just remind people about what would you want for your kids?
Courtney (28:01.965)
Thank you.
Brian (28:02.795)
Mm-hmm, right. Sharon, I mentioned before when you were at the state on the government side of things, you were the catalyst for the public-private partnerships and particularly with collaborating with the faith-based community. And when you left, things got tougher. So for people who are in a state where they don't have a Sharon Ford on the government side,
What role should the church play in trying to foster a public-private partnership with the government?
Sharen Ford (28:42.83)
I want to go back to something that we said at the beginning when I was talking about that you and Julie and I would meet on a regular basis and we would dream together. Excuse me. What did you, I thought we both listened to each other. I think that the faith community has an opportunity to be in strategic meetings that the state holds.
Brian (28:53.583)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (29:08.524)
And they might not know what those meetings are, but I mean, I can talk about what some of them are so that they become good listeners. And when you're a good listener, then you can ask courageous questions. Then those questions often lead to change. And people begin to see you as a trusted listener than a trusted collaborator.
that we can make change together. There are some things that state government workers can never do. They can never lobby a legislature.
Brian (29:50.82)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (29:51.156)
that's outside of purview of their job. They can educate a legislator, they can educate the public. So as a good educator, you were willing, as a good listener, were willing to listen, let me talk about some of the things that were possibilities that were beyond the scope of my realm of responsibility to do.
but you could go have those courageous conversations with other people and elevate it to other levels so that people were like, hmm, hmm. They began, hmm, Well, there's some merit in that. There's an opportunity there. Well, we could change some things. so, being a good, it starts at being a good listener. And how, you know, when we pray, we trust that God is listening to us.
So to even back it up further, it starts with prayer. Okay, God, where would you have me to be? Who would you have me talking to? What would you have me to hear? I'm in a meeting, what should I be listening for? Okay, and so now that I've heard this, what's the actionable piece for me to take action on? And who are the other people who should be at the table with me? No man is an island, entire of himself. Everybody's a piece of the continent, a part of the main said,
John Doane. And so who are those other people who should be coming alongside you? AKB started out with you and Julie, but you brought other people around you to make it a part of you to mushroom it until it grew. And so I think that being at going to the state board of human or social services at the state office and listening to the policies that they're putting forward, listening to the concerns, the governor's office has
meetings as well that, and they're different in every state, but usually the governor has a child and family services meeting. Who are those people? Those seats are citizens from the, from the state that sit in those meetings. They're not a couple of them are legislators, but most of them are just everyday people. So maybe I should try to get on that committee so that I can be a good listener and then take part in helping to make changes.
Sharen Ford (32:10.968)
that are going to impact the children and the families in my state and in my community. Being a good community partner is so, so critical. It's great that you shovel the sidewalk of a neighbor or you help break the leaves of a neighbor. Those are wonderful ways of being a servant. But there are other people who are called to be.
other kinds of actionable servants by being involved in state government. And you don't have to run for the legislature, run for the governor's office or city council to be an important partner to help affect change.
Brian (32:51.693)
That's really good.
Courtney (32:53.121)
Yeah, was really good. Yeah, let's speak a little bit more about this change. So there's been positive change. Sometimes we can see some things with some negative change in foster care. thinking about foster care as a whole, what are some of the changes that you've seen in the past 10 years that have just been for the better for the foster care system?
Sharen Ford (33:02.166)
Yes.
Sharen Ford (33:11.052)
I think that I wish I could say that it's across the board in every state, but there are some states that really have embraced working with a collaborative mindset with the faith community, that they see that it is a value add. And so it's like, so if the church says, we want to throw a party for the kids in foster care in our county.
you know, and it's a Christmas party. we want to do a back to school drive for all the kids, you know, in foster care in our county. And awesome, awesome, awesome way for the community to get involved and for these kids to see that there's somebody besides their caseworker or their foster parent who care about them. You know, I'm a part of this community. It's not that I just go to this school.
or I'm with this foster parent, I'm a part of this community and they care about me. And so when I see those kinds of huge collaborations that can be small, but they're collaborative. It's the big church, the middle-sized church, the medium-sized church, it's the WANA League, all these different groups coming together on behalf of the children. I just love that.
So I think that for the states and the communities that really do embrace and allow their faith-based community to love on them and to support them, and not just the children, but also their caseworkers, that that means so, so much, so much. Last month was hospitality month for recognizing social workers. And maybe it's, we're still in October, maybe it's this month.
you know, that there are organizations that really reach out to say, hey, we know that you have a hard job social worker, you know, and we know we can't give each worker because it's, you know, this government rule, can't buy a social worker, but a basket of muffins, a basket of breakfast bars. That's what it ends up being, what, $2, $1.50 per caseworker. So they can't say you can't buy a worker for a dollar.
Sharen Ford (35:32.024)
You know, having a lunch, having a lunch catered in for the child protection team, any of those things, book cards, just we're thinking about you. You were prayed for today just to let those workers who are making hard decisions, they don't have easy jobs, to let them know that their community recognizes them and stands behind them even when it's hard.
Brian (35:32.719)
Mm-hmm.
Sharen Ford (36:01.314)
and we know that they're not perfect and they can make a mistake, we hope that they don't, but we still stick behind you. That sends a rippling message across the organization that we, this division, these group of people matter to this community. You're helping keep our kids safe. Those things matter.
Brian (36:25.671)
Sharon, so I imagine there's a lot of things that you wish were different with the foster care system. But imagine you're walking along the beach and you find a lamp and you pick it up and you wipe it clean. And a genie comes out and he says, you don't get three wishes, you only get one. And you have to apply it to the foster care system. What one thing would you want to see changed about the foster care system?
Sharen Ford (36:30.286)
Hahaha
Sharen Ford (36:56.766)
You know, the one thing that I would want changed about the foster care system is that the...
Sharen Ford (37:07.608)
disrespectful.
Sharen Ford (37:12.384)
inappropriate policies that are present barriers to communities of faith stepping forward to care for children, that those policies would be removed.
I as a caring, loving, God-fearing, God-obeying person shouldn't have to choose between honoring God and caring for children. That if God has called my household to welcome children who are hurting in for a season of time,
that I shouldn't have to put my faith down, renounce my faith to be able to do that.
Courtney (38:07.939)
Let's dig into this a little bit deeper too, because I do as a foster care recruiter, I hear Christian families saying, I'm not going to do this because I'm not going to step into something that the government is tied to. So what encouragement could you give to a Christian family of why they should still step into this role, even though it's tied to the government?
Brian (38:10.951)
Okay.
Sharen Ford (38:29.07)
First of all, they have to see God. If God tells me to do it, I know he's gonna see me through it. care how hard, there've been some hard seasons in my 30 year career at state government, but whenever he gave me something hard to do, he saw me through that. And so you gotta know that you know know that you know that God said do it. so to the families who are
God has called you to be a foster parent. Even though your local state or your local child welfare office is saying, well, you have to do this, this, this, this. And you go, okay, God, I'm laying this before you. Are you saying move forward? And if he says yes, then he's got you. God's not gonna take you where he doesn't provide for you.
But that's why it's so important that you stay on that narrow path that he's given you to go through. Being a foster parent is not for the faint of heart. You can't do it because, everybody else is doing it. Did God say do it? And if God said do it, if that's your yes to him, then he has a yes and an amen for you.
Brian (39:52.367)
So let's wrap things up with just kind of real practical step. if the people listening today were inspired to take a next step, and now who knows what that next step might be. They want to foster, they want to adopt, they want to learn how to be a collaborator, they want to learn how to listen better. What do you think is one good common step they could all take as their next step? Is there an answer?
Sharen Ford (40:20.11)
Pray, pray. Pray for direction and ask God to send you people in your life for you to connect with.
Brian (40:22.329)
Yes.
Brian (40:31.809)
I love that. was reminding me of what our most common prayer, Julie and I had for years. And I'll be honest, I've neglected it lately, is God help us meet who you want us to meet. so great. That's great advice. All right. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Ford. And if the listeners, if you're wanting to know where you can get more information and engaging in this issue, I encourage you to visit
focus on the family's foster care and adoption resources. so Sharon, is there a specific website you'd want them to go to?
Sharen Ford (41:10.328)
There is, it's waitnomore.org, waitnomore.org. That's our focus on the family's website for foster care and adoption is waitnomore.org.
Brian (41:22.671)
Great. Well, again, whether you're an individual or you're represent a church or an organization or a business, I want to encourage our listeners to know that there's something that you can do. There's something for everybody. And this space and these kids and these families, they need this collective collaborative involvement. So don't discount who you are and what you might be able to do.
And again, yeah, take Sharon's advice is pray and ask and try to meet the right people who can help you and take your next step. Dr. Ford, thank you for your wisdom and for your heart for this issue and for these kids and these families. Very grateful for all them.
Sharen Ford (42:15.746)
Well, thank you so much, Brian, for having me and Courtney, you as well. May God richly bless AKB and the work that you do every single day. You guys are like a pebble in the pond. You have a ripple effect across the nation. And I praise God for the work that you're doing every day.
Brian (42:34.745)
Thank you.
Courtney (42:34.903)
Thank you.