I am one of the few people that can go to a religious meeting and end up talking about special needs adoptions and residential treatment centers.

This weekend I attended the annual meeting of the Wisconsin conference of the United Church of Christ. There were several of us there representing our church and discussing fun issues like budget and committees.

One of the committees that got my attention was the one for Health & Human Services. Two speakers got up to talk a little bit about how they fit in with this ministry. It turns out that they were both residential treatment centers. As they talked I knew listening to their presentations was not going to be enough for me. At the break, I headed to the exhibit area and had a great discussion with Kyle from Crossroad in Indiana. She was very open and welcoming and we talked for almost an hour. She will be providing me with more blog material as we continue to correspond.

She was a wealth of information on psychiatric funding and helping to get residential treatment covered under medical assistance, and I will pass it along to you as I get it.

Crossroad may be exhibiting at the ATN conference in Excelsior Springs, MO in August, so there is always the opportunity to come and speak with a representative yourself.

The other center that I talked to was Orion Family Services in Madison. They are a newer agency so I am gathering more information.

These discussions lead me to look into a position on the Health & Human Services committee. There were two vacancies that needed to be filled, but there was already a representative from our regional association, so I was not elected, but I have a feeling I will be working in this position in the future, and I will certainly be corresponding with this committee on a regular basis. One of my New Years resolutions was to stop volunteering for more things, so I think God intervened on this to stop me from taking on more than I could handle.

I love this outlet to be able to combine my spiritual life and my passion for foster care and adoption. This committee acts as a liaison between social services and the church. What a wonderful way to get support for foster and adoptive parents.

Stay tuned for more on this interesting ministry.