BCFS Health and Human Services (formerly Baptist Child and Family Services) is a U.S.
501(c)(3) organization
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...
based in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
, Texas, specializing in emergency shelter, foster care, and adoption. It was founded as an orphanage for
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
children in 1944.
Projects
San Antonio youth centers
In 2000, BCFS was a partner with
Texas Youth Commission
The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) was a Texas state agency which operated juvenile corrections facilities in the state. The commission was headquartered in the Brown-Heatly Building in Austin. As of 2007, it was the second largest juvenile correct ...
and
Bexar County
Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...
Juvenile Probation in establishing the first transition center in Texas for youth aging out of foster care with a grant from
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...
. Former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher
Jimmy Morris was hired as a motivational speaker in 2015, saying "It's my job to tell the kids what they're capable of... It's not about me. It's about what God can do through me."
BCFS has operated Guadalupe Street Coffee and Westside Community Center in San Antonio as a service to area youth and their families in partnership with city agencies, non-profits, and faith-based organizations.
A San Antonio BCFS office focuses on supporting victims of
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
that works in coalition with
San Antonio Police Department
The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of San Antonio, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are at South Santa Rosa district. SAPD is one of the largest munic ...
, ChildSafe, and other organizations. A 2023 panel discussion run by BCFS highlighted the particular vulnerabilities for youth in the
foster care
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
system.
Emergency shelters
BCFS coordinated shelter for the 462 children displaced from
YFZ Ranch
The YFZ Ranch, or Yearning for Zion Ranch, was a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, the State o ...
in 2008. Affiliate Baptist Children’s Home Youth Ranch was adapted to support keeping large amounts of siblings together.
In response to
Hurricane Ida
Hurricane Ida was a deadly and extremely destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 2021 that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 200 ...
mandatory evacuation orders in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, BCFS operated shelters that implemented software from
Texas Health Services Authority's partner
Audacious Inquiry
Audacious Inquiry (Ai) is an American company founded in 2004 and with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The company provides health information technology services and cloud-based software.
History
Audacious Inquiry was founded in 2004 b ...
to coordinate medical information and histories for displaced patients.
Minor detention centers
BCFS first started administrating shelters for
unaccompanied migrant children under
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's administration.
By 2014, BCFS ran two large temporary detention centers and six permanent shelters. In 2015, BCFS received more funding than any other
Office of Refugee Resettlement
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program of the Administration for Children and Families, an office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, created with the passing of the United States Refugee Act of 1980 ( ...
contractor and nearly a quarter of total funding designated for the unaccompanied minors program.
In 2017, a 10 year-old girl with
cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...
was arrested after traveling in an ambulance unaccompanied for a gall bladder operation. Representative
Joaquin Castro
Joaquin Castro (born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has represented Texas's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013. The district includes just over half of hi ...
attempted to visit her at BCFS shelter and was refused access while her deportation status was being determined. District judge
Fred Biery suggested that her mother should have been detained as well. The child was released without deportation following objections from the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
.
BCFS operated
Tornillo tent city The Tornillo tent city was a temporary immigrant detention facility for children located in Tornillo, Texas and operated by BCFS on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Department termed it an ...
, the largest detention camp for minors at the time, from June 2018–January 2019. In December 2018 it is estimated that the camp held more than 2,800 minors, mostly from
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, and employed 2,000 people. CEO
Kevin Dinnin claimed that the organization was pressured to expand their operations by the federal government. Dinnin notified the
Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
on December 17 that the organization would not accept additional detainees. It was announced the following day that controversial fingerprinting requirements would be rolled back to expedite sponsorships. Conditions of the camp were not subject to scrutiny by state agencies and standard FBI fingerprint background checks for employees were waived, raising alarm about the safety of detained minors.
In 2019, employees at
Wayfair
Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global su ...
staged a walk out in protest of a contract with BCFS for a minor detention facility in
Carrizo Springs, Texas
Carrizo Springs is the largest city in and the county seat of Dimmit County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,368 at the 2010 census. (2018 estimate 5,470).
The name of the town is derived from the local springs, which were named by th ...
, a former
Stratton Oilfield Systems "man camp" with estimated capacity for 1,000 detainees. In 2021, BCFS threatened to close the Carrizo Springs shelter when Health and Human Services attempted to apply requirements that would increase employees' pay above
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
.
Awards
* 2022- Texas Emergency Management Partnership Recognition
* 2022- Texas Emergency Management Leadership Award for BCFS President and CEO, Kevin Dinnin
References
External links
*
BCFS Health and Human Services''(
GuideStar
Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations.Wyland, Michael. "GuideStar Introduces Program Metrics Section for Nonprofit Profile ...
profile)''
Interactive: Federal Children's Shelters in Texas''(
The Texas Tribune
''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events.
Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternativ ...
)''
{{authority control
Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement
Immigration detention centers and prisons in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Texas
Baptist organizations established in the 20th century