WHAT IS FAMILY-BASED CARE?

IDENTITY MISSION BELIEVES THAT GOD'S DESIGN OF FAMILY FOR THE CARE OF A CHILD IS A MODEL THAT WE SHOULD STRIVE TO DUPLICATE WHEN PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FOR CHILDREN IN VULNERABLE SITUATIONS.

NO MATTER THE REASON, WHEN A CHILD IS TORN FROM THEIR FAMILY SETTING AND IS LEFT ABANDONED, ORPHANED, OR SIMPLY VULNERABLE, RESEARCH HAS PROVEN THAT THE BEST ANSWER FOR THAT CHILD IS PLACEMENT IN A CARING FAMILY. THEREFORE, FAMILY-BASED CARE PROGRAMS ARE ALL ABOUT KEEPING KIDS IN FAMILIES. THE FAMILY-BASED CARE MODEL FOCUSES ON PLACING CHILDREN INTO A FAMILY SETTING WHEN THEY NEED ALTERNATIVE CARE BECAUSE OF A DISRUPTION IN THEIR IMMEDIATE BIOLOGICAL FAMILY. THIS CAN BE FOSTER CARE OR KINSHIP CARE. WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY, IF FEASIBLE, ALSO STRENGTHENING BIOLOGICAL FAMILIES THROUGH EDUCATIONAL, ECONOMIC, MATERIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT SERVICES IN ORDER TO IDEALLY REINTEGRATE CHILDREN BACK WITH THEIR BIOLOGICAL FAMILIES. IF REINTEGRATION IS NOT POSSIBLE, WE ADVOCATE FOR AN EVENTUAL MOVEMENT INTO AN ADOPTIVE OR FOREVER FAMILY.

WHY FAMILY-BASED CARE?

Research has proven again and again that the best care of a child HAPPENS WITHIN a family atmosphere.

The UN Convention on the rights of the child states it like this:
"The child for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality should grow up in a family environment."

WE BELIEVE THAT OUR own adoptive Father MAKES HIS INTENTIONS CLEAR THAT THE FAMILY IS THE DESIGNED SETTING FOR THE ORPHANED AND VULNERABLE: "GOD SETS THE LONELY IN FAMILIES" (PSALM 68:6)

Therefore, our Family-Based Care programs SEEKS to reach an orphan's inner most need: to know and have a family. It is within the family environment that children develop an identity, sense of purpose and belonging; therefore, to this end, Identity Mission's efforts are established in providing family care in order to prevent more children entering institutions and therein being stripped of their identity.

LOCAL CHURCH PARTNERSHIP

In all of our efforts, Identity Mission partners with the local Honduran churches that have the heart to help vulnerable children and at-risk families in their community.  we invite the local church to be a part of each Identity Mission program, working alongside our staff in keeping kids in families. In foster care, the church puts out the call for families to foster, provides respite care, or donates resources. The congregation surrounds the foster families and foster children with love and assistance. In family preservation, the church meets struggling families in their community through their connection with Identity Mission; then works with us in disciplining the family and assisting with providing sustainability so that the family isn't separated due to poverty. Third, in the orphanage partnership program, mentors from the local church hold Bible studies with youth living in local orphanages, using Identity Mission's "Discover Your Identity" curriculum. The church also ministers to the entire orphanage regularly through providing resources and community for the children that reside on the campus and are otherwise very secluded. Through the local church, Identity Mission empowers a partnership that will establish family-based care and orphan prevention that is grounded in faith and sustained by the church body.

OUR PROGRAMS