Program areas at CAFO
Advocacy and Education - Central to CAFO's work is to inspire and equip "champions" for well-informed, highly effective service to orphans, foster youth, and other vulnerable children and families, both across the U.S. and worldwide. These champions include adoptive and foster parents, advocates, social workers, pastors and church staff, volunteers, national leaders in developing nations, and leaders and staff of child-serving organizations. This work takes shape especially through focused initiatives that unite an expansive range of organizations, churches, and individuals in coordinated action for profound collective impact. These include CAFO Global Networks, the More than Enough initiative, the Pure Religion Project (building on the legacy of Orphan Sunday and Stand Sunday),the National Church Ministry Initiative, the Center on Applied Research for Vulnerable Children and Families, the Aging Out Initiative, the Institute for Family Centered Healing & Health, the Development and Discipleship Initiative, and other targeted programs. This work also involves a wide range of communication efforts to build awareness and effective engagement, including three podcast series, regular interviews in both Christian and mainstream media, articles and opinion editorials, speaking and teaching at conferences and other events, the CAFO blog, CAFO's monthly newsletter and other e-information, strategic use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media, videos and other visual media products, phone and in-person meetings with thought leaders, pastors, advocates and other influencers, email and phone responses to a wide range of inquiries, an expansive website, monthly training webinars, and much more. All of these efforts work towards three primary goals: 1) To see more than enough well-supported homes for every child in US foster care, including foster and kinship, adoptive, and restored biological families; and 2) To see Christians and Christian organizations known across the field of OVC care not only for great love, but also for excellence and innovation; 3) To see the local church in every nation rise as the primary answer for the orphans and vulnerable children of that place.
Global Networks - CAFO Global Networks and the Global Movements Initiative (GMI) invests in emerging leaders worldwide, providing technical support, leadership, training, and more. GMI draws from the resources of the entire CAFO community to serve the church in majority world/developing countries, working toward the day when the local church in every nation is known as the primary answer for the deep needs of orphans and vulnerable children in their midst.
Summit Conference - The annual CAFO Summit has become the hub for the field of Christian service to orphans and vulnerable children worldwide, from US foster care to programs serving children and families worldwide.At the CAFO 2023 Summit, more than 2,000 church leaders, orphan advocates, adoptive and foster parents, veterans of global ministry, and local/national leaders from around the world gathered for training, connection, and inspiration for well-informed, highly-effective ministry.