What about vulnerable children in America?

Last year in Indiana, every Wednesday, I met a little 10-year-old girl named Sadie. For one hour, we talked, did homework, or played games together. Her home life was messy, and school life rough. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she got pregnant by 15. In May, her dad moved and took her with him to Chicago. On our last day together, I shared the gospel with her. She'd never heard it before and had a lot of questions. I may have been the most stable and Christlike adult she'd ever had a direct conversation with.

Children like this are everywhere, and school mentoring programs exist for people like you and me to build relationships with them. Currently, I'm exploring getting involved with Kid's Hope USA, a Christian organization that matches churches and schools for one-on-one mentoring. Big Brothers Big Sisters is another mentoring program I'd like to explore if Kids Hope USA doesn't work out this year.

Another way to help local needy children is through Foster Parenting, Babysitting, or Respite Care. In America, we don't have traditional orphanages or children's homes like other countries do. Children in America who lack basic resources and parents to care for them are put in foster care. Last week, I began foster parent training with a Christian agency, United Methodist Children's Home (UMCH). It's been a sobering learning experience. I'm not ready to foster a child yet. But I'm taking the training because...

• I want to understand the need, and build relationships with local vulnerable children and their caregivers.  
• There is a lot of helpful content overlap between the Foster Care Training and the caregiver training I'm developing for children's homes in other countries.
• When my financial and living situations become more permanent, I'd love to foster a child. 

Here is some helpful & interesting information I've learned from the training so far:

• Due to a lack of (Christian) foster families, UMCH turns away 30 children a week referred to them by the state. The state isn't allowed to turn away children, so they often place children in homes that are already filled to capacity, which reduces the quality of care the children receive. And these homes are usually not Christian.
• Children usually are in foster care for 3-10 months, after which they are returned to their birth parents or adopted.
• Many parents whose children are in foster care are involved with substance addictions, which they developed after a series of tragic circumstances. 
• Foster parent training is free and open for anyone to take, even if you are not looking to foster right now (like me). The training is 24 hours, broken into several 3-hour classes. 
• Single adults can foster children. (Sometimes this is can be helpful because it is best if children who have been abused by adults are not around adults of that gender for a time.)
• Babysitting foster children does not require Foster Care Training.
• Providing respite (overnight) care to foster families does require Foster Care Training. 

Overall, I've been impressed with the UMCH, their overt Christian mission and perspective. I recommend that someone interested in foster care receive training from a private Christian agency instead of the state.

Lastly, another way to become involved with helping children locally is to become a CASA Volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocate) A CASA volunteer is matched by the court with a child in the foster care system. The CASA volunteer gets to know the child and determines what decisions are in the child's best interest, then advocates for those decisions to be made in court. This is a 10-20 hour per month commitment for at least 1 year. This fall in my area, the CASA training and foster care training are scheduled for the same time, so I'm not going through CASA training now, but I'm interested in becoming a CASA volunteer in the future. 

To wrap up, I realize that not everyone is called to minister exactly as I am, but if you're interested in meaningful and practical opportunities to help the needy in this country, I hope this post has offered some helpful ideas. 

"Take up the cause of the fatherless." 

Isaiah 1:17