Nationwide, 30,000 adolescents age out of the foster care system yearly. According to the Child Welfare League of America, 25% are homeless, 56% are unemployed, 27% of males end up in jail and 30% of females have children of their own shortly after aging out.
This map shows the number of children available for adoption and the number of churches in each state. if just one family from each church adopts one child, there wouldn't be enough children. These statistics blow my mind.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18
You don't have to foster or adopt to help children in care. There are many ways you can help. You can help families who do foster or adopt by being a shoulder to lean on, a child''s mentor or respite worker, or you can help in tangible ways like mowing their lawn or preparing a meal when they're going through a hard time with one or more of their children. You can visit websites to find other ideas, like here.
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Psalm 82:3
