On average, more than 19,500 children aged out of the U.S. foster care system each year from 2019-2022. And when they age out, many of them are left utterly bereft of the social and economic resources the rest of us take for granted. They are alone, before their adult life has begun.
What does their future usually hold? A staggering 30% of former foster care youth experience homelessness by age 21, and 20% report being incarcerated by age 21. Additionally, research shows that involvement in the foster care and juvenile justice systems and/or persistent housing instability greatly increases the future risk of victimization in sex trafficking. Without proper care, the most vulnerable children in our community will become the most vulnerable adults as well.
Whether we recognize it or not, as American citizens, we are all suffering the tragic ramifications of the foster care system’s shortcomings. To care for the most vulnerable children in our community is to care for our entire community—and, in a way, for ourselves.
As a boy, I found myself in the foster care system. After over a decade of abuse and a childhood riddled with trauma, I faced the difficult and lonesome prospect of commencing adulthood without support, guidance or a place to call home. Like so many others in foster care, the trajectory of my future seemed predestined for tragedy.
Because of the ongoing abuse, my biological parents’ rights were terminated. That meant I would be in the foster care system until I was 18. After this realization, I spiraled into a deep depression. All felt hopeless, until one day a couple from a local church heard my story and began ministering to me. This Christian couple would call me and visit me, and through their local church, they discovered I needed a long-term solution.
By the grace of God, I spent my last three years of high school living in a WinShape Home. Before foster care, I missed an entire year of education—but over the next three years, WinShape worked on my behalf to provide special classes so I could graduate on time. My healing journey began as those around me equipped me as a teenager to be a whole, healthy, and successful adult—built up in Christ.
Since aging out of the foster care system, for the past 12 years, I’ve given my life to full-time ministry, being on staff at a church for nearly a decade and serving as a pastor for five of those years. Through a passion for music and speaking opportunities, I share the transformational power of the gospel through my story. I’m devoted to witnessing the healing of God’s people and to equipping them to extend that healing to others in need.
It’s also true that foster care reform is more than a moral or religious cause. It’s a matter of self-interest, as well. Every generation of foster kids eventually grows up to enter the workforce, attend churches alongside us and build families of their own. If we want to enact lasting, transformational change in our nation, the foster care system might be the most strategic focal point.
