Quote · The Shawn Ryan Show
#314 Jen Lilley - The Dark Truth About the American Foster Care System
Where this was said
The Church's Role — and Failure — in Foster Care
At 36:03 · chapter starts 36:00
Jen Lilley turns to her most emotionally charged argument: foster care is a crisis because the church abandoned vulnerable children to government care, and the government is a terrible parent. She describes a watershed moment at an Olive Crest summit in Los Angeles — a gathering of 300 churches to confront the state of foster care. A teenage girl about to age out of the system was asked how the church had played a role in her life. After visible internal struggle — trying to be polite at a church gathering — she finally said: 'I don't think I've had a positive interaction with a Christian my entire life.' The room erupted in support, demanding she call them to account. The story leads directly to Lilley and her husband deciding to take the girl in, despite her husband's initial reluctance and the logistical chaos of three children under three during the onset of the pandemic.
