Believers Against Abuse and Neglect of Kids (BAANK) was created in 2009 in response to growing child welfare needs in Sarasota County. Understanding the importance of the faith community’s involvement in the prevention of child abuse and neglect, we decided to partner with the county and the state to provide resources and support to families at risk. We are at work developing court-approved, faith
-based parenting classes for use in churches. We also provide respite care for foster children once a month at two church locations in Sarasota, an effort that we hope will grow to include more congregations in the future. Since our inception in 2009, we have expanded into the 12th Circuit (Sarasota-Manatee-DeSoto). We hope to be a bridge between the public child welfare community and the faith community, including faith-based organizations in the 12th Circuit. Our goal is to unify, educate, and equip people of faith to help in this fight against abuse and neglect in the most tactful and effectual way possible. We know that the only way to effect positive change is to work together with established faith-based organizations, government entities, and individual church members alike. We hope that you will join us in this fight.
