Responding to the foster care crisis

Foster kids took some of the hardest hits during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 8,000 fewer adoptions from foster care in 2020 than in 2019, and government lockdowns prevented proper oversight for biological and foster families. May is Foster Care Awareness Month, an important time to recognize and identify what can be done for this vulnerable population of image-bearers.

The church often leads the way in caring for these children, but we have a responsibility to do even more. Secular progressives often point to the trauma of foster care and child poverty as a primary reason to keep abortion legal. This argument is a logical fallacy, given that healthy newborns selected for adoption would be immediately adopted by waiting families—and the vast majority of aborted babies are healthy. Abortion is never the answer, but children born into poverty are often the ones who end up in foster care down the road if not adopted at birth. So how can the church help?

Many churches and organizations have formed new partnerships in the last several years, increasing advocacy for foster children in more tangible ways. One of the most powerful examples of churches tackling this challenge is exemplified in Project 127, an organization in Colorado that works with churches to create “a family waiting for every child” rather than “a child waiting for a family.” The effort has expanded to more states and inspired churches nationwide. The Christian Alliance for Orphans is another organization devoted to equipping and partnering with churches to combat the need. CAFO has a national membership network, coaching services, and plenty of practical tools and resources for churches to implement.

CAFO President Jedd Medefind believes churches are the key and should “wrap around” vulnerable families and foster families. “It’s a grassroots beautiful thing to see local churches saying, ‘This is how we’re going to live,’” he said in a phone interview.

Pro-lifers are often criticized by the left if they do not personally foster or adopt, but there are plenty of ways Christians can support families and children if that isn’t possible. Examples include making monthly contributions to Christian foster and adoption ministries, volunteering for respite care for foster families, becoming a court-appointed special advocate, mentoring at-risk children, supporting government policies to improve the system, providing meals for families, and filling up Amazon gift lists or item requests for foster children through programs like One Simple Wish. Churches can encourage their congregations to surround foster families with prayer and support, helping them never feel abandoned or alone.

Other efforts are preventative, which means we can help keep children out of the system. Systematically, the foster care industry is shifting focus to this preventative model. It might mean providing better educational and financial support for vulnerable families who might be at risk. It means more government money for struggling mothers, more parenting classes, and programs to help overcome addiction. Of course, Christians will disagree on the most prudential ways that public policy could reduce the likelihood of children entering the foster care system, but we should be mindful that public policy has a role to play. Given the prevalence of the drug crisis, which killed a record 108,000 Americans last year, it also means combating addiction at the state and federal levels. The majority of those who lose their lives to a drug overdose are 25 to 44 years old, and most of them have children.

Christians can work with the government and local organizations in this way. Rather than wait until a child is in foster care, we should take note of the families around us that need help. We can work with our churches or local organizations to identify those families that could use support, need jobs, childcare, or mentoring. We can create and reinforce an organic network of community to intercept trouble before catastrophe forces the trauma of family separation. This will not always work, but prevention is always the best alternative, and these efforts will go a long way.

Christians should consider how we can help contribute to the betterment of families and the lives of vulnerable children. God doesn’t specify exactly how we are to care, but called we are. With the need and opportunity so great, there’s no excuse not to start today.