The Catholic Church of Madhya Pradesh region has the social work activities, mainly undertaken at two levels i.e. the Forum Level and the Diocesan (Partner) Level. The Forum level organization was registered under the name Madhya Pradesh Samaj Seva Sanstha in the year 1998 and is basically involved in the capacity building activities of the diocesan staff whereas each diocese under Madhya Pradesh region has an independent registered wing for the Social Work and is involved directly in the field level activities.

The process of constituting a forum for Social Work in Madhya Pradesh was first initiated in the year 1982-1983 by the Diocesan Directors of Social Works of Madhya Pradesh. Though the by-laws were formulated for the registration of the society it could not be materialized due to technical problems. This was followed by another attempt made by four dioceses of Madhya Pradesh for the formation of an association - Inter Diocesan Education for Action (IDEA) to promote people's development and social action. Gradually this IDEA spread across to other dioceses. This led to the sowing of the seed for the formation of the M P Forum.

In the year 1997 the Bishops of Madhya Pradesh came forward for the creation of a Forum of Social Work in the Region. In order to initiate the process of forming the forum, the Bishops appointed Fr. Francis T. as the first secretary to the Commission of Social Work under the Council of Bishops of MP (CBMP). Fr. Francis T. succeeded in registering a society under the name of Madhya Pradesh Samaj Seva Sansthan (MPSSS) on 25th September 1998 bearing the No. 6387/98 under the M.P. Firms and Societies registration Act 1973. It started functioning from Seva Sadan, Bhopal and today it has gradually attained the status of a Coordinating Agency (NGO) for all the development programmes in the Dioceses of Madhya Pradesh. Though initially it covered the target States of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the jurisdiction of the Forum has been extended to the Whole of India through an amendment in the Memorandum of Association duly certified by the Registrar of the firms and Societies on 20.12.2002. MPSSS has also obtained the FCRA registration under the foreign Contribution Act, 1976 from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India on 15 March 2004. Madhya Pradesh Samaj Seva Sanstha (MPSSS) is facilitating and coordinating the development activities of 9 Diocesan Social Service Societies of M.P. region. Today overseas donor support is fast dwindling & the need for positive intervention for the development of poor & marginalized sections of the society is acquiring great importance. MPSSS along with the 9 partners are making all efforts to empower the community to make right choices, & help them to decide for themselves what road they have to take for their development, for creation of a just society where there is justice, peace & love. This forum was split into two in 2008 i.e. Madhya Pradesh Forum and Chhattisgarh Forum. Present Partners of MPSSS includes Bhopal, Indore, Jhabua, Khandwa, Ujjain, Sagar, Satna, Gwalior and Jabalpur dioceses.