Foster care tends to be a touchy subject. Most people have an opinion about foster care, and generally it’s not good. If the topic comes up, most of the conversation centers around how broken the system is, how the kids have such “issues,” and how hard it is to adopt from foster care.
But the reality is that much of the negativity stems from lack of knowledge or experience with the foster care system. Sure, there are challenges when pursuing adoption from foster care, but keeping a larger perspective helps us understand that caseworkers work tirelessly on behalf of kids within a system that is typically understaffed and underfunded. The rules are in place, not to make it hard to adopt or foster, but to protect kids who have been abused and neglected.
It’s easy to focus on the negative, but as you look through this info graphic, pray for the families that choose to pursue foster care and adoption. Pray that caseworkers will have access not only to resources like funding, but that they also have an abundance of families to choose from to make the best fit for a child.
And most importantly, pray for the individual lives that these statistics represent. Each child in foster care, no matter the circumstances surrounding their removal from their home, are made in the image of our God and deserve the love and security of a family.
From Simmons School of Social Work.
