| ABOUT
US: Catholic Social Services of
Montana, Inc.
Catholic Social
Services of Montana (CSSM), formerly Catholic Charities, is a
nonprofit, statewide agency that has been providing social services,
pregnancy counseling, single parent assistance, and adoption services
for fifty years. Licensed by the Montana Department of Public
Health and Human Services, CSSM maintains a professional staff
of counselors who make the agency a welcoming place where those
seeking services are met with respect, warmth and sensitivity.
The agency strives for a healthy mixture of dependability,
confidentiality and hospitality. Our fundamental mission is interwoven
with the belief that all life is sacred; that families should
be preserved whenever possible; that all children have the right
to a permanent family; that adoption is a way to build a family.
Adoptive Services
CSSM coordinates a wide variety of adoption programs including
the placement of infants, older children with special needs, children
of color, and foreign born children. Strong and persistent effort
goes into advocacy on behalf of adoptive parents, birth parents
and adopted persons. We continue to pioneer efforts to sensitize
and enrich the adoption experience.
Pregnancy Services
Choosing adoption in today’s society is not easy. Young
pregnant women, especially teens, are often bombarded by their
friends and relatives with advice that does not include adoption
as a solution. We constantly see the need for stronger, more compelling
efforts to increase society’s awareness of adoption as an
appealing option.
Women seeking services from CSSM may opt to parent
their children. Counselors help and support these women. When
circumstances are right, single parenting can be a rewarding choice.
Assistance for Those
In Need
Through a special fund to assist pregnant women and single mothers
who choose to parent their babies, we provide diapers, formula,
baby food, blankets, clothing, cribs and high chairs. Since those
who need assistance are struggling, with severely limited resources,
to make a home for their children, we help with rent, utilities,
medical, transportation repairs, food and child care in crisis
situations. We are often the “last resort” when women
and their children do not qualify for the standard types of assistance
or have exhausted the assistance available to them. We help women
in battered women’s shelters, in the Florence Crittenton
Home and in low income housing. Creative, unconditional support
for women who choose life for their babies is a natural part of
our mission.
International Adoption
Due to social, political and economic conditions, there are orphaned
and abandoned children in many countries throughout the world
who need loving parents. CSSM has developed an international adoption
program to assist in this unique way to build a family.
Although a complex process through the USCIS
Office of Citizenship, usually a placement can occur within one
year. Most of the children adopted by US families are under the
age of two. Incomplete or unreliable information about the child’s
social and medical background is a concern, but studies have shown
that most of the children do well.
Adopting a child from another country most often
means the family will become interracial. Families must be prepared
to handle the racial issues which may arise, and to incorporate
meaningful aspects of the child’s original culture. Countries
have various requirements regarding travel; some children are
escorted to the U.S., while in other cases parents travel to the
country to personally bring the child home.
International adoption is a rewarding way to
build a family. The process requires the services of two adoption
agencies. CSSM proves the home study and post placement services
herein Montana for families wanting to adopt internationally.
Each family must also choose a second out-of-state agency which
has the necessary contacts with the other country.
Search and Reunion
Up until the late 1980s and 1990s most adoptions were closed adoptions
where the adoptive parents and the birth parents did not know
the identity of each other. Adoptees often had questions about
their roots and genetics but were unable to have these questions
answered with the information given at the time of the adoption.
A trend began whereby adoptees began searching for birth parents
in order to find out information about themselves. In 1997 Montana
law created the Confidential Intermediary which is a person on
staff at an adoption agency who acts as the intermediary in searches
of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. The confidential
intermediary is appointed by the court and is then able to research
adoption records. The intermediary determines the level of contact
acceptable to all parties in these situations and reports back
to the court before sharing information and facilitating contact.
Rachel's Hope
In recent years the after effects of an abortion have come to
light. Women and men who have been involved in an abortion
can experience emotional symptoms for years after an abortion,
sometimes to the extent that their lives have been disrupted
or altered. Rachel's Hope offers a confidential hot line 1-888-456-HOPE
for individuals who have had an abortion to obtain compassionate
and understanding assistance. Individuals are referred to trained
counselors and priests who can assist them in their journey.
It is important for post-abortive individuals to understand
that there is hope of healing from an abortion and forgiveness
is within their reach. Rachel’s
Vineyard provides a weekend retreat format in which post abortive
men and women can gain more understanding into the emotional
and spiritual aspects of having had an abortion.
Catholic Social Services of Montana has a
variety of services for Montanans. Our service is guided by our
Christian principles. We take pride in offering services with
a skilled, experienced, professional staff.
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