After almost 30 years of youth ministry, I knew allegorically that the foster care system was broken and that it was a hard life for kids who found themselves there through no fault of their own, but I really had no idea just how difficult this experience could be. On any given day there are approximately 424,000 kids and youth in foster care in the U.S., and every two minutes another child enters the system. Statistics show that fewer than half of these youth will graduate from high school, and within two years of aging out, one quarter will either be incarcerated or homeless. Individually, the cost to each of these vulnerable kids is immense, and collectively the long-term cost to society is incalculable. In the United States we spent $5.3 billion on our foster care system in 2020 alone. But things are changing. A few months ago I ran across a small group of passionate people who are audaciously revolutionizing the foster care community and bringing community, empowerment, and hope to those experiencing foster care in cities all over this country.
"We invite you to help us build a new system,
focused on community, love and hope."
-National Angels
They are theNational Angels, which began in Austin,Texas just a few years ago. They already have 22 chapters across the country and are scaling rapidly. I am consulting for Olympic Angels, on the rural Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. A clearly secular organization, the National Angels model is remarkably Christ-like, and churches across America could easily impact their own foster care communities through partnering with them. They have two main programs: The first program is called a Love Box, which is much more than a physical box, it's a group of 2-10 people who come together to love and support children experiencing foster care and the family they are placed in. These Love Boxes provide what the state cannot: Community. Love. Support. Rootedness.
Their other main program is a one-on-one mentoring program for teenagers in foster care called "Dare to Dream." I don't need to spend any time telling youth workers how life-changing mentoring can be, only that National Angels has set up a simple framework for faith communities to impact the lives of middle school and high school kids in foster care through mentoring.
One of our volunteers told us the other day about the kids in her Love Box family, "I am able to be a consistent adult that loves them and is there for them regardless of where they go. I think for them, as they've moved through three different homes, they always knew I was there and I was always going to be there. It gives them a person to trust who wants to be there, who isn't paid to be there. I'm not a service. I'm an adult who loves them."
When I discoveredOlympic Angels a few months ago, I could not help but think how perfect their model was for faith communities to partner with. Every small group I've ever been a part of has wanted to do something practical with their faith, and becoming a Love Box for a child in foster care is so easy and seamless to do. And it's both Christ-like and missional. I can envision churches impacting their communities in a transformational way. I see youth pastors recruiting youth staff to mentor teens in foster care. I can picture scores of small groups loving on these kids and families, some who are far from Christ, who would perhaps be experiencing the family of God for the first time. This is how we will change the system, one child at a time.
"The Olympic Angels model is the future of foster care."
Area Administrator -Department of Children, Youth and Family
May is National Foster Care Month. Until now, the only way to impact the foster care system was to be a foster parent or a guardian ad litem. Not everyone is called to be a foster parent, but each of us can play a part in enhancing the lives of children and youth in foster care. And the church should be leading the way. Go tonationalangels.org to see about signing up for a faith partnership with your local Angels chapter, or become a member of the Angel Alliance.
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Mark Moder is the founder of The 501 Consultancy, "Helping nonprofits maximize their impact on the world."