One quarter of the 400,000 children in the foster care system are waiting to be adopted. One quarter of those adoptable youth will not be adopted; rather they will be “emancipated” from care once they turn 18. For those youth, the future is dire and dangerous. Underfunded agencies help how they can, but most teens are thrust into adulthood with neither diploma or skill-set while trying to overcome a history of instability (often backed by trauma) with no support network to guide them. Many have never experienced security, unconditional love, or even seen a healthy example of marriage or family relationships. Therefore, it is no wonder they face an increased risk for unplanned pregnancy, trafficking, substance abuse, incarceration, school dropout, homelessness, reliance on public assistance, depression, involvement in the child welfare system from the parent side and life below the poverty line.
Fortunately, there is hope. And that hope is the church. By responding to God’s charge to care for the fatherless, the church can snatch children out of the cycle of poverty and thus transform families for generations to come.
Opportunities for intervention when and before children age out of state care are many. Undoubtedly, the best situation for any orphan is adoption into a healthy loving family. But many youth in foster care are not legally adoptable and adoptable youth outnumber adoptive families. Therefore the second best situation is building lasting relationships in a loving, trustworthy community. Children in foster care may move from home to home and school to school, but generally stay in the same region. A church can gather around one or more children in their area to ensure that they are continually surrounded by familiar faces and committed mentors throughout their adolescence.
The spectrum of ways to help these youth spreads wide from from formal adoption to pick-up basketball. Here are some ideas:
- Church members can drive children from their current placement to church activities.
- Churches can even partner with their local child welfare agency to place particular children into foster families within their congregation then create a respite care program within their church.
- Or churches can beat child welfare services to intervention by mentoring whole families in the Safe Families for Children model.
- Churches can equip advocates to mentor struggling young adults through guidance programs like Open Table.
- A college student can invite a teen to play basketball every week, join Big Brothers Big Sisters or volunteer at a Boys and Girls Club.
- A mom can encourage and advise a pregnant teen or single mom (Embrace Grace and Young Lives are two excellent programs.)
- A dad can bring a boy along to cub scouts or a college visit with his own children.
- A family can invite a teen (or four) over to dinner regularly so that she can see the inner workings of a healthy family.
- Empty nesters can informally adopt a young adult, giving him or her a home for the holidays and someone to call through life’s turns.
- Anyone can serve as Court Appointed Special Advocate, representing them in court.
- Providers can financially support or found a transitional housing facility for youth aging out of care in their community.
- Families can open their own homes up to help young adults transition into independence like the Haynes’ did.
A network of excellent programs have sprung up to partner with churches and individuals caring for struggling youth. Helpful resources like the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) identify and share successful organizations like those listed above and The Mentoring Project, Connections Homes, and AdoptUSKids for advocates to join. CAFO also created the Aging-Out and National Foster Care Initiatives to inform and assist advocates.
All children need stability. All youth need mentorship. All new mom’s need counsel. All young adults need budgeting and career advice. All people need love, support and encouragement. How much more then do the vulnerable need these things? Lives change, hope is restored and the poverty rate falls when communities embrace otherwise forgotten youth.
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