About Us

Building Families Through Empathy,
Hope, and Respect

Primarily, we aim to place children in temporary to long-term care that our resource families provide. We also offer emergency placement 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as needed. In cases where a child is in immediate need of a safe place to stay, we can provide short-term placement with a foster family for up to 30 days. After this period, we recommend that the child be moved into our traditional foster care program.

Respite Care

At Lifespan Family Services, we also offer short-term respite care when a child needs periodic stays with a foster family during weekends, holidays, or other periods. This can ensure that a child always has a safe, familiar place to stay where they have already established family relationships. Respite can also be explored in cases of relocation. We recommend that respite care be used when family members become overwhelmed, jeopardizing the possibility of remaining in non-respite placement.

Helping Your Child
Transition Into Adulthood

At Lifespan Family Services, we recognize the importance of introducing children to adulthood. We support the federal government's efforts to provide ongoing support up until age 21 and continually encourage them throughout their lives. We’re here to support you as you help prepare your foster kids for adulthood.

Working together, we can:

• Provide reassurance to the children that they do not need to move out when they are 18
• Encourage the children to seek educational pursuits -- college, technical or trade schools, and community colleges
• Teach them basic financial skills and provide them with awareness of the cost of living alone
• Launch your foster children into their future; continue providing a home and family support for their efforts
• Seek mentors for your child to build awareness and the abilities needed to become truly independent in a successful way

Staying Connected

Our foster family experts at Lifespan Family Services encourage foster parents to allow their home to be a permanent family home. This can be possible by having foster children visit for holidays, school breaks, and other family gatherings. Family connections are important; we hope foster families can establish a permanent family connection with their older foster children.

The Transition Period

Children are naturally inclined to wonder what they will do when they approach age 18. It’s of utmost importance for them to make wise decisions at this time of life transition. A lack of preparation and awareness of running a household can lead to poor decisions that can lead to arrest and more.

It’s increasingly important for foster children not to be left alone during this time. Despite a natural desire for independence, proper support at this time is vitally important. This is strongly supported by studies that show non-foster children are at home until age 22. At this time, necessary additional support is received in teaching many life lessons, including saving money, gaining an education, learning a trade, and more.

Birth Mothers

Putting your child up for adoption doesn’t mean you won’t see them again or even be involved in their life. There is always an abundance of families desiring to allow birth mothers to continue to have some level of contact with their children. Fortunately, many adoptive families love having the chance to raise a child while encouraging the mother to have ongoing communication.

Giving your baby up for adoption can give them an opportunity for an enhanced quality of life. Contact us for more information on our work with birth mothers.

Lifespan Family Services will help you and your baby choose a loving family...

• We can help link birth mothers to a family in Western and Central Pennsylvania that will allow you to keep in touch with your child at the desired level and help put the agreement in writing.
• If you choose adoption, it does NOT mean you cannot see your child.
• Some birth moms are happy with once-a-year school pictures and report cards. Some want annual visits. And others even desire more frequent interaction.
• Whatever your wish, we will work to help you meet your needs!
• Giving someone your child does not mean they are gone forever!
• There is no greater blessing than giving your baby the gift of life and a loving new family.
• Let us help you and your child.

Faith-Based Services

At Lifespan Family Services, we support the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and our mission is to see that every child has the full support of our foster parenting agency services in fully expressing their faith.

Freedom to Practice

Our management team supports our founding fathers who were wise to recognize that a person's faith is important for their livelihood and should be supported and protected.

Patrick, our founder, issued the following statement in support of our stance on upholding the importance of one’s faith: "Anyone inhibiting a child in their free expression of their faith of origin or preventing the child from attending worship services, praying, or following their faith's obligations, shall be severely reprimanded and or terminated."

Religious Worship

We believe that foster parents should offer an opportunity to help their children practice fully in their faith. All foster parents are encouraged to allow the children to read their Bibles or other church-related materials, pray whenever they wish, and attend the religious services of their choice.

Church and Community Partnering

Here at Lifespan Family Services, we can help develop a children's ministry or outreach focus and make it a success. If your church or organization is interested in boosting the faith of the youth in our community, contact us for more information.

Why do we encourage helping to nurture faith with foster families?

Faith builds hope and gives many people a reason to look forward, savor their life, and do good in their community and families. Faith yields strong beliefs and encourages healthy behaviors. Certainly, all people of faith are not perfect. Still, there is a heavy focus on earning one’s salvation and developing strong family values that help yield a good work ethic, responsibility, and concern for humanity. In today’s world, we see a general reduction in such focus, and chaos continues to grow! Think of what many call the “good ole days,” Those were times when faith was not questioned but expected, encouraged, not poked fun at, and it helped focus our society on helping others.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for patience for the foster parents and children to adjust to each other. When thrust into someone else’s home, tensions are high. Foster children already feel a sense of loss at being removed from their birth homes and often act out at least initially when placed.
• Pray for peace for the biological families to understand that their children being removed may be temporary, especially if they address issues brought to the attention of the placing county. They also need to understand the foster parents are not their enemy.
• Pray for friends and family members to have patience and be supportive of their friends that are fostering. They may deal with emotions and behaviors that many people may prefer not to deal with. Understand your friend or family member is committed to helping children in need.
• Pray for the children and families to embrace prayer and faith. Studies have shown that prayer really does help. Faith can calm and give a person a reason to keep moving forward in life.
• Pray for the foster parents to be aware that the public holds them to a higher standard than other parents. We often receive calls about how a foster family talks, what their political comments are, if they act unfair in business dealings and how they discipline and interact with the children. People are highly critical and foster parents must be always mindful that “eyes are upon them” and their character should always be as much above reproach as possible.
• Pray that God would raise up more doctors and nurses in your area who are passionate about using their gifts and profession to bring healing and hope to children in foster care.

• Pray siblings can remain together while in foster care in safe and encouraging environments.
• Pray for the advocates of children in foster care, pray they are encouraged to do all they can do to speak for the children.
• Pray that the President, legislators, governors, mayors and other elected officials will use their power and influence to protect the weak and vulnerable.
• Pray that cycles of abuse will be broken when abusers reach out for help to the churches and agencies to find healing.
• Pray for the kids in foster care in your local schools that they would find friends and encourage compassionate teachers who help them through tough times.
• Pray that Kinship providers would have the emotional, spiritual, financial, and other resources to provide a safe home for children form their family.
• Pray the law enforcement officers in your community would be well equipped to engage in their roles as protection of the weak, including children who experience abuse or neglect.
• Pray lawyers and judges would have the eyes to see the specific needs of children in foster care.
• Pray that the teachers in the school systems and daycares would be aware of the unique needs children in foster care may have and that teachers would have the tools and knowledge needed to respond to these needs.
• Pray that God would lead children in foster care to work through the hurt they have experienced in their past.

• Need to pray to God, asking him to guide and strengthen every person involved in the life of a child in foster care.
• Pray for our agency as we support the foster families and children in our care while juggling our own personal lives.
• Pray foster children will know God and learn about his teachings by going to Vacation Bible School, Church Socials, Sunday School and other events in the Lord’s house.
• Pray they can participate in sporting activities, go on trips with their foster families, skip a rock across the lake for the first time, learn to ride a bike, have a family movie night, feel safe in their home, etc.