8 Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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MAJOR TRENDS IN THE CHRISTIAN ORPHAN CARE MOVEMENT 2017

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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GLOBAL ORPHAN STATISTICS HINT AT SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT

UNICEF’s most recent statistics on orphans (using 2015 data) estimates there are 140 M children worldwide who’ve lost one or both parents. The number of those who’ve lost both parents registered at 15.1 M. These numbers are immense, and each represents a heartbreaking story. Still, the trend lines offer some encouragement. The estimate of total orphans rose from 1990 to 2001, peaking at 155.4 million. Since then, it has slowly fallen, reaching 146 M in 2010 and 140 M in 2015. Many factors are likely helping, including the many ways global economic growth has helped alleviate severe poverty. Another likely factor is the decreasing deaths caused by AIDS, in part due to increased provision of life-preserving medication.

(For a fuller grasp of what these numbers do and do not convey, see the CAFO White Paper, “On Understanding Orphan Statistics.”)

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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FOSTER CARE NEED GROWING… BUT SO ARE ADOPTIONS.

After 14 years of decreases, in 2012 the number of children in foster care began edging upward. The official AFCARS numbers topped 437,000 in FY 2016 and are projected to have hit 443,000 in FY2017. These shifts are likely driven by many factors, but it is widely believed that the opioid abuse epidemic is a major influence. Opioid addiction not only is leaving more parents unable to care for their children but also often reaches like tentacles through an extended family, closing options for kinship care when it is most needed.

One bright spot in the data: the number of children exiting foster care grew faster than the number of children entering care. This appears to be at least partially driven by an increase in adoptions, which rose 12 percent from the prior year to reach 57,208 last year.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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GIVING BY CHRISTIANS FOR ORPHAN CARE AND ADOPTION CONTINUES TO RISE

Once again, Christian giving to both adoption and orphan care ministry outpaced the growth in charitable giving by Americans by significant margins.

Charitable giving overall rose 2.7%, while giving to Christian orphan care rose 4.5% and to adoptionrelated ministries by 11.2%, according to ECFA’s 2017 State of Giving Report. Since 2010, charitable giving

by Americans has risen 29% for all causes -- while climbing 81% and 90% for Christian adoption and orphan care, respectively.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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GROWTH IN FAITH-BASED FOSTER CARE ENGAGEMENT

Observers of the US foster system – including CAFO’s leadership team – continue to see more churches stepping up to engage foster care in their communities.

A new article in the Chronicle of Social Change spotlights one great example of this, “In Arkansas, One Faith-Based Group Recruits Almost Half of Foster Homes.” Similar networks of churches – some mature and others just getting started – are taking root across the country, from Washington, DC to California, Texas to Kentucky.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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ONGOING PUSH FOR DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION

International and national governments, NGOs and other influential voices continue to promote a shift from institutional care to family-based care for children around the globe. Philosophically, this vision is consistent with CAFO’s “Core Principles,” which affirm the family as God’s best for children.

Even so, when deinstitutionalization is driven with haste, without adequate attention to the unique needs of each child or the complexity of broken families, children are exposed to great risk. The best approaches work to maximize the number of children in families while also recognizing the need for a very deliberative process and a full continuum of care options for children in crisis.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS CONTINUE TO DROP, YET INCREASE FOR CHILDREN AGE 3+

International adoptions decreased again last year, reaching 5,370. Ethiopia’s decision to cut international adoptions from few to none is just one of many recent constrictions. While sometimes reducing risks of corruption, these constrictions also ensure that many children who need families will grow up without one.

(See more on this tension here.) Despite this trend, it is worth noting that more than 100,000 children have found families through international adoption to the US over the past decade.

Significantly, while closing doors to the adoption of toddler-aged children, many foreign governments remain willing to release those that are older or have special needs. (Rebecca Harris has done enlightening research on this issue.) Even as international adoptions have fallen significantly since 2005, the number adopted for children ages 3+ has held relatively steady – and actually ticked upward last year above 4,500. This trend reminds that church-based support ministries are truly vital as adoptive families embrace children with significant needs, coming both from overseas and the foster system.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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EXPANDING LOCAL ENGAGEMENT

BY THE GLOBAL CHURCH

Aiding orphaned children, particularly from one’s extended family or tribe, has long been a deeplyrooted part of many traditional cultures. But new movements – from Africa to Asia to Latin America – are pushing further, calling Christians to care for unrelated orphans, including the often countercultural notion of adoption. This year, Orphan Sunday was commemorated in churches in 90 nations, with local churches calling believers to stand as God’s first answer for the orphans around them. While this vision is still fledgling in many places, energetic leaders are rising. World Without Orphans is playing a critical role, casting vision around the world. And CAFO’s Global Network helps equip national networks and churches to wrap around adoptive, foster and biological families.

Eight Major Trends in the Christian Orphan Care Movement

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WEARINESS AND SPIRITUAL LIFE

Justice issues remain a strong focus for Christians.

But even amidst faithful effort, many struggle with weariness and burnout. Needs they’ve sought to address often prove more stubborn and complex than imagined. To persevere the in work of justice and mercy requires deep roots, fed by the Gospel and by spiritual practices that nourish the soul. The podcast series “Justice and the Inner Life” explores this reality – and spiritual habits that help sustain service for a lifetime – with weathered veterans and wise leaders.

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