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Summarized by 'Eileen Bell'
Making the Family Strong: LDS Church agency refocuses on family counseling and adoptions
Salt Lake Tribune 8Jan00 N1
By Bob Mims: Salt Lake Tribune
The recent renaming of "LDS Social Services" into the new "LDS Family
Services" reflects a focus change as well as a name change. Family
Services Commissioner Fred Riley says "We want to be a force to help
families survive in this world. And there seems to be a sense of
community support for families, a kind of regeneration [of the idea] that
we have to somehow strengthen families."
Numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate a rise in the number
of divorce, single parent families, youth crime, and unwed mothers.
As a result, LDS Family Services will focus on family counselling
and adoption. They also have consultation services for church
leaders. The agency works in the United States, Canada,
New Zealand, Australia, and England. There are three hundred
full-time employees and 150 part-time staffers.
Brother Riley says, "In the 21st century, [we will] try to help young
women who are pregnant out of wedlock become more aware
that we exist, both inside and outside the church. Adoption has
become a very powerful tool for both the child's best interest and
to help them have a chance at a better life."
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