Kentucky Governor Names Southern Baptist Leader to Fix Broken Foster Care

Heather Sells : May 9, 2017
CBN News

"We have to rethink the way we do foster care in KY, and Dan Dumas is just the visionary to help lead that charge." -Governor Matt Bevin

[CBN News] Even the wife of Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin acknowledges that the state's foster care and adoption services are not working. (Photo: Dan Dumas/via CBN News)

"Our state is on the precipice," Glenna Bevin told women at a March 24 event at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "It will be lost if we don't step up," she said, urging the women to consider getting involved.

Just weeks later, Gov. Bevin named Dan Dumas, senior vice president for institutional advancement at the seminary, to lead an overhaul of the state's adoption and foster care system.

The governor himself has first-hand knowledge of just how broken Kentucky's system is. He and his wife spent two years trying to adopt an 11-year-old girl from Kentucky but the state ultimately rejected their application. They went on to adopt four children from Ethiopia.

Since his inauguration in December of 2015, Bevin has publicly called for Kentucky to become "the gold standard" when it comes to foster care and adoption. In a December 2016 interview Bevin described the state foster care system as "broken" and said "our adoption process has been convoluted, expensive, bureaucratic and unfortunately broken as well."

Dumas is also a father to two adopted sons. He's served at Southern Baptist since 2008, leading strategic initiatives, building projects and budget expansion. Previously, he serve as executive pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

Southern Baptist leaders have been quick to praise Dumas' appointment including Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dumas says he will work to make Kentucky foster care and adoption services "faster, safer, more affordable and more accessible." He will oversee 8,000 foster care children in the state system. Nationally, more than 425,000 children are part of the foster care system.