Fostering and Adoption

The Adoption is a brilliant BBCSounds podcast. It's a 17 part series looking at the journey of two children being adopted, through the eyes of those most affected by it.

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Krish Kandiah from his book, Home For Good:

27% of the current prison population in the UK was once a child in care.

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Children in their late teens are less likely to be placed in foster homes, and tragically they are also considered 'unadoptable'. It seems that hardly anyone comes forward to offer a home to children in this age bracket.....

It is these children who age out of the system without families who are most at risk of unemployment, homelessness and imprisonment.

Perhaps we need to challenge the assumption that nobody would come forward to adopt a troubled teen. 

Without a family they will have nowhere to call home, not only for the last few years of dependency, but for the rest of their lives.  Without a family they will have nowhere to go for their Christmas dinner. No one to call if they end up in hospital. No one to celebrate with them as they get a qualification or a new job. No one to text for some advice on how long to leave a casserole in the oven. No one to send a Mother's Day card to. No one to give them away at a wedding. No one to present a grandchild to.....

It may be that we could sent a trend to show love and inclusion to a whole generation of children for whom homelessness and destitution are the path of least resistance. This could be the biggest contribution the church could make today to change society, in one move relieving the foster care system, relieving the prisons, relieving the abortion clinics, relieving the metal health units, relieving the problem of homelessness. The power of being set in a family is not to be underestimated.

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This is a very real and gritty account of what fostering a troubled older child looked like for Casey Watson, a very experienced foster carer.

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A brilliant book in so many ways- from the need for adoption, the gospel basis of adoption and the incredible theology of adoption in the Bible. It also covers how churches can help families wanting to adopt and so much more.  Dr Moore talks on this podcast about adoption.

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I'll try to write more about this book at another time, but the Chapmans adopted three girls from China and were very active in encouraging others to adopt which is a big part of their story in this book.