The current US foster care system faces significant challenges, including overburdened caseworkers and a lack of support for aging-out youth.



Some would say the foster care program in America is broken and intensely dysfunctional. Others would say it’s flat out in a crisis. The latter would be the position of the Christian organization Alliance Defending Freedom.

The organization notes on their website that, “Vulnerable children are being placed in hospitals, police stations, and institutions to help fill the [foster care system] gap. As numerous states have attested, religious families play a critical role in the foster-care system. Yet instead of inviting these loving parents from diverse backgrounds to help care for kids, government officials are shutting the door on them because of their commonly held religious beliefs, putting their ideological agenda ahead of the needs of suffering kids.”

Challenges of the Present Foster Care System
They go on to note their approval of President Trump’s executive order entitled, Fostering the Future for American Children and Families. The executive order calls out the challenges of the present system, especially when children who have been stuck in the system for years must transition out because of their age. Their futures are often uncertain, and support systems to help them acquire a good education, a career, and relational success are very much lacking.

Presently, only about half of children in the foster care system finish high school, less than 5 percent get a four-year college degree, approximately one in five become homeless after leaving the system, and only half have adequate work allowing them to enjoy a good quality of life by the age of 24, according to Christian Newswire.

In addition, case workers are overburdened, and “information systems are often outdated,” according to WhiteHouse.gov. Some of the steps that the executive order promises to implement include updating regulations, policies, practices, systems, software, improved metrics for spotting child mistreatment or abuse, as well as system features that improve child matching and accelerated placement, to name just a few aspects of the system overhaul.

Most Notable Improvement Trump’s Executive Order Requires
Perhaps the most notable improvement to the system stated in the executive order is how the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the White House Faith Office, and the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs will join forces. They will work together to remove roadblocks that some states have put in place to complicate the efforts of suitable Christian parents and/or churches who want to be involved in foster care.

Melania Trump has really been leading the charge to push for changes to the foster care system that led up to President Trump signing the executive order. On the day Trump signed the order, she spoke of how pleased she was that colleges all over America, including Vanderbilt University, University of Miami, and Villanova University, have chosen to come alongside her vision and provide scholarships and programs to help children in the foster care system obtain a quality education. In addition, steps will be taken to prepare them to enter the workforce and excel in managerial positions, according to Times Now World.

Perhaps one of the most amazing stories of victory regarding someone who came out of the foster care system is the story of Focus on the Family’s President and CEO, Jim Daily. Truly, the Lord took him from ashes to beauty, and then, through the encouragement of his wife, the couple reached out to other foster children to help them have a better future.

Source