Children's Services
Adoption
A forever family is the happy ending every child deserves
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Individuals experiencing unplanned pregnancies come to Catholic Charities to receive support, and counseling, from professional staff that educate and assist them as they make decisions and plan a future for their infants and themselves. Our goal is to prepare and support both birth and adoptive parents throughout the adoption process.
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Birth parents select from approved waiting family profiles, the adoptive parents that they wish to have raise their child. Most birthparents’ preference is to review adoptive parent profiles that match their values and desires for their child’s upbringing in regard to religion and family composition. Other factors frequently influencing their decision include a mutually agreed upon level of openness, economic stability, education, personal interests and health. Birth parents may express a preference for couples who are unable to conceive.
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Applicants must be at least 25 years of age, be in good health, demonstrate the financial means to support a family, and meet state licensing standards. Applicants will be required to share information about their marriage, childhood and family background, medical history, religion, education and employment history and the values they desire to share as parents. Applicants must receive clearance from state, federal, etc. We welcome prospective parents of all religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and accept applications to meet ongoing programmatic needs. Adoption Services are statewide in Mississippi.
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​Post Adoption
Post Adoption Support Services are designed to support families who have adopted children through foster care and internationally. Support services include counseling, mental health treatment, crisis intervention, family preservation and stabilization services, peer support, and respite. Respite services shall include training and certification of individuals, group care such as “Parents’ Day out,” in-home caregivers, and out-of-home caregivers. Respite services are NOT for crisis intervention instead, it is a support service to all prospective adoptive parents/ adoptive families to assist in alleviating the day-to-day stress of parenting. Respite is available upon request up to once per month for prospective adoptive parents/ adoptive families.
Are you an adoptive family who is interested in respite services? If so, click the link below.
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MATERNITY SUPPORT
Are you or someone you know, facing an unplanned and untimely pregnancies pregnancy? Catholic Charities offers free pregnancy support for all women regardless of age, income, marital status or religious affiliation.
There are no fees for this service.
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Our pregnancy support services address three areas:
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Emotional support to help you work through emotions and feelings.
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Adequate information so that you know all of your options.
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Skills to help you make the best decision for you and your baby.
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Kinship Navigator
The Kinship Navigator Program was created to support caregivers who have taken on the primary role and responsibility of caring for their relatives’ children between the ages of birth to 18. Caregivers can be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or non-blood related kin. Children include the caregiver’s siblings, nieces, nephews, or grandchildren. Kinship assists caregivers in learning about, locating, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they are raising, in addition to their own needs as caregivers.
Caregivers receive help navigating through local, state, and federal forms of assistance to determine their eligibility and guidance through the Kinship permanency process to obtain Legal Guardianship or Adoption to establish a legal commitment to the child. The program works to identify and address the family’s holistic needs, stressors, health, safety, and well-being while incorporating a family-driven approach to support and strengthen their kinship care arrangements.​
Therauputic Foster Care
“Changing the Future One Child at a Time”
Our Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) services provide a stable home environment with families who care for and believe any child or teen can accomplish their greatest potential. In Mississippi, there is a great need for families to foster large sibling groups, teenagers; children with physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges; children with severe behavior problems, pregnant girls who plan to keep the baby, and children who have face different forms of trauma.
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Are you ready to share your home?
Many foster children are survivors of trauma and face challenges that impact their views, behaviors and healthy development. Most children who are removed from their home are placed in foster care because of neglect and abuse. Our goal is to return each child to safety and permanency, reunification with biological family or a forever home.
Being removed from all you’ve known causes challenges for youth such as emotional, social and learning difficulties. The emotions a youth in foster care experiences can vary from feeling hopeless, grief, anxiety, loneliness, anger, frustration, lack of confidence and more that can lead to mental and physical health challenges.
Our clinical staff ensures our highly-trained Foster Family Network are equipped with tools such as trauma healing and behavioral coping skills that support each youth’s mental, physical and emotional safety and well-being. We welcome people of all backgrounds to become resource parents, including single, married, retired, and divorced adults interested in being the difference in the life of a child or teen.
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Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
The URM long-term therapeutic foster care program provides specialized services for refugees from war torn countries. The program also serves Victims of Human Trafficking, Asylees, and Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) cases. Catholic Charities URM program, through funding from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), places minors in therapeutic foster homes, group homes, or Independent Living arrangements appropriate to their developmental needs. All URM youth must enter the legal custody of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services prior to their 18th birthday.
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The goal of the URM Program is to assist unaccompanied refugee minors in developing appropriate skills to enter adulthood and achieve economic self-sufficiency. Some of the services that are available to URM youth through refugee foster care placement are: intensive case management, therapy, cultural orientation, translation/ interpretation services, assistance with obtaining U.S. residency, socialization and recreational activities, educational assistance as well as religious affiliations.
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Begin the application process here