Can Foster Care Really Help a Child?

Foster parents will likely care for children affected by abuse, neglect, and separation, consider unique financial issues, and navigate a struggling child welfare system. Amid these difficulties, it is natural to wonder: Can foster care help a child? Is it worth it to get involved?

Our answer is yes.

The hope foster children have is in Christian homes like yours. Your home could be a sanctuary for displaced children, offering the comfort and safety these young individuals desperately need. Your home could be where they meet Jesus.

One of the most alarming side effects of the shortage of licensed homes is that thousands of displaced children must sleep in unlicensed facilities, including Child Protective Services (CPS) offices, hotels, and churches. Once intended as temporary shelters, child welfare agencies utilize group homes more frequently for long-term placements. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), more than 25,832 children were living in institutions in the United States.

For foster children in these temporary placements, the trauma extends beyond uncertainty. Loneliness, missed meals, and dangers such as trafficking are among the risk factors. The Away From Home Report, a qualitative study of 78 youth across 30 states, found that institutional placements tend to cause children to feel trapped and often prevent them from building relationships that could help them transition out of the system.

Finally, even if your foster child’s next season is full of disappointment and hurt, the love, care, and encouragement you gave them while they were in your home will be part of who they are forever. Like a seed planted to sprout, grow, and bloom another day, their experience with you will become a place of refuge in their memory when times are tough and a voice of confidence as they defy expectations.

Will you say yes to that? The Green* family did and made a kingdom impact in just one weekend. 

AFCARS reports the average child spent about two years in the foster care system in 2021. That is two years of opportunities for Christian families like yours to interrupt the cycle of trauma for a vulnerable child by demonstrating the love of Jesus. But the Green* family did not have two years – they had two days.

Recently, the Greens welcomed a 14-year-old boy named Britton* who had nowhere else to go for a weekend respite. In that short time, they shared the Gospel with Britton, who was feeling lost and overwhelmed, and attended church together. The foster parents noted that Britton seemed receptive to the message, believing they had planted a seed of hope and promise in his heart.

The Green family’s experience is a powerful testament to how even the briefest of placements can allow a vulnerable child to encounter the hope and love of Jesus Christ, potentially leading to future salvation.

While navigating broken systems and the hardships of fostering can be overwhelming, Jesus calls each of us to “[look] after orphans…in their distress” (James 1:27 NIV). Our God equips the called, and He is greater than any challenge you will face!

You can engage in a struggling system to help a child. You can say yes. And, with the help of the Lord, One More Child will stand behind you when you answer the call on your life to help a child in foster care – through licensing, placement, and beyond.