DALLAS (ABP) — Dallas-based Buckner Children and Family Services announced Nov. 21 it will affiliate starting Jan. 1 with Dillon International, Inc., a Christian non-profit agency in Tulsa, Okla., that specializes in international adoption services.
Leaders said the arrangement, which gives Dillon International responsibility for managing adoption programs for both organizations, will expand the ministry reach of both groups.
"This immediately doubles our capacity for placing children and offers the potential of exponential expansion and growth," Buckner Children & Family Services President Albert Reyes said.
The affiliation opens five new countries to Buckner, which has placed more than 4,000 children in homes since its first adoption in 1884 and began international adoptions in 1995. It also expands the reach of Dillon International, which currently has adoption and humanitarian ministries in South Korea, China, India, Haiti and Vietnam into Ethiopia and Russia.
"Jerry and I have had close ties to this wonderful Christian organization for many years, and their global ministry is very compatible with ours," said Deniese Dillon, who co-founded Dillon International with her husband in 1972. Originally started to meet the needs of homeless Korean orphans, Dillon has placed more than 5,500 children from developing countries with families in the United States.
Ken Hall, president and CEO of Buckner International, said joining forces "marries Dillon's outstanding reputation in the international adoption field with Bucker International's global reputation for humanitarian aid work among orphans and at-risk children."
"Together, we will be able to serve children and families in so many ways," Hall said.
The agreement, approved unanimously Friday by Buckner trustees after an earlier unanimous vote by the Dillon board, places all Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services international and domestic adoption programs under the Dillon brand. It is not a merger, however. Buckner will continue to oversee adoptions by Dillon. Buckner's other ministries are not affected, and no change is anticipated in the size of Buckner's staff.
An FAQ section on the Dillon website said adoption services will operate under the Dillon name, because the organization operates in seven states and has widespread brand recognition nationally in the field of international adoptions. Buckner will be the parent organization, but Dillon will be the primary name for adoption services starting Jan. 1.
Dillon will continue to be headquartered in Tulsa and maintain its regional offices in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Reyes said he is "thrilled" about the affiliation. "There is no more respected name among Christian adoption agencies than Dillon International," he said. "They are internationally known for their ability to serve families and the heart with which they do it. By working together, we will now be able to help more Christian families to build their family through the miracle of adoption."
Buckner spokesperson Russ Dilday called it "a major move in the Christian adoption world."
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.