On August 18th, nearly 100 pastors and ministry leaders joined the Church Ambassador Network at Keystone Church in Ankeny for our 29th Church-State Partnership Tour stop. At this stop, we hosted Congressman Zach Nunn and U.S. Asst. Secretary Alex Adams of the Administration for Children and Families – the agency inside U.S. HHS that oversees child welfare for the United States of America. Alex reports directly to Secretary Kennedy, who was also in town at that time.
Over the past year, the Church Ambassador Network has garnered a lot of national attention, including that of HHS leadership. Whenever people ask about the Iowa story, we tell them they need to come and see what God has done in Iowa for themselves. To host someone of Alex’s position in our state at a stand-alone event that we put on, can only be from the Lord’s favor!
Alex formerly served as the HHS Secretary of Idaho and was the first state to achieve a 1:1 ratio, providing a home for every foster child. This was seen as impossible, but they did it. This led to him being appointed to his current position by the President where he has since started the Home For Every Child Initiative, aiming to take what he did in Idaho to the nation. A home for every foster child in the United States. The most incredible part of this vision? In an era when all 50 states cannot even celebrate America’s birthday together, Alex and his team were able to get all 50 states’ governors to sign onto the Home For Every Child Initiative. This is a testimony to Alex’s work and, even more so, a testimony of what God is doing in the foster-care space!
As Asst. Secretary and the leader of this initiative, Alex came to Iowa to see firsthand our incredible success in Iowa and how we turned our foster system around. Though much work is still to be done, Iowa has reduced the number of kids in the foster system from 8,000 eight years ago to an astonishing 3,200 kids today. The credit for this turnaround goes to many people, including those working in the department, but a lot of credit has been given to partnerships with the church. Those same partnerships were the primary purpose of starting the Church-State Partnership Tour, which has now grown well beyond former director Kelly Garcia. While meeting with Alex in DC this spring, we simply invited Alex to come and see what God has done through church-state partnership in our state. Come and see how we went from 8,000 kids to 3,200 through the power of the Church. Come and see how we went from one of the worst systems in the country to the top 5 currently. Come and see how the Church in Iowa loved on the Health and Human Services team and now has one of the longest serving Child Welfare Directors in the country. Come and see how God has given us favor with kings on both sides of the aisle. Come and see how God has spread this beyond Iowa today. Alex came and Alex saw. This is what he had to say while he was in Iowa:
The message that a state sends to the faith community will either make or break your recruitment efforts. And I would tell you unequivocally Iowa is setting the mark for the message that they are sending to the faith community.
I would dare say…other states are going to covet what the Church Ambassador Network has done. And they’re going to call people like Greg and people like those of you in this room and say, ‘How is Iowa doing it? How can we replicate that in our states?’ And that’s the power of what we’re trying to unlock.
The tour stop culminated in AJ Doyle announcing the expansion of The Table Project’s work to Polk County – after launching The Table Project with us in Ames with Fred Cooper from ACF on June 30th. The Table Project will partner with churches in Central Iowa to raise up 100 new families this year, bringing us to a 1:1 ratio.
A few take aways from the day:
In Church-State Partnership, Iowa is living up to the Field of Dreams quote, “If you build it, they will come.” We built Church-State Partnership, and the nation is coming.
God is truly doing something special here in Iowa. It is something that we must steward—and we must steward it together.
