William David Jordan

Angels in Adoption 2005 - Tennessee

Selected by Senator Lamar Alexander

William David Jordan is the Executive Director of AGAPE Child and Family Services in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, a position he has held for the past 10 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from David Lipscomb University and a Master of Science degree in Social Work Administration and Planning from the University of Tennessee. David is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who over the course of his career has worked as a counselor, family therapist, supervisor, program administrator, and agency director in the human services field. Specializing in services to children and families, he has worked extensively in the public and private sectors and in both government and faith-based agencies. David and his wife Theresa live in Memphis, Tennessee, and have been married since 1987. They have three wonderful children: Brittney (14), Andrew (12), and Meagan (7). They are active members of the White Station Church of Christ, where Theresa is the Children's Minister and David serves as Deacon of Children's Ministry. During his 10 years as Executive Director of AGAPE, David has led the agency in (1) serving more than 7,000 children and families in 2004, compared to 139 in 1995; (2) developing the first and only collaborative adoption service center within a 300+ mile radius of Memphis - the "Adoption Center of the Mid-South," launched in August 2005. This center brings together faith-based, secular, government, judicial, nonprofit, private, and public stakeholders to provide quality and holistic services for anyone in the Mid-South touchec by adoption; (3) launching in May 2004 the Adoption Support and Preservation Program (ASAP), which serves any family in West Tennessee that has adopted a child f rom the state foster care system. Although up to 25% of adoptive families will experience some significant difficulty that could result in adoption disruption, ASAP's success is evident in that only 1.8% of the families served have experienced disruption; (4) initiating the Family Permanency Model in 2001, which moves children out of foster care in an expeditious and effective manner, and (5) creating the AGAPE Counseling Center in 1996, which now provides marriage and family counseling services to more than 1,000 individuals and families annually, making it the largest Christian-based counseling center in the region.
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