Quote · The Shawn Ryan Show
#314 Jen Lilley - The Dark Truth About the American Foster Care System
Where this was said
The Math: One Family Per Four Churches Solves the Crisis
At 1:04:49 · chapter starts 1:01:10
Lilley pauses to do the math that should, in theory, be motivating. There are 344,000 children in foster care. There are 350,000 active Protestant churches in the United States — that figure doesn't even include Catholic or Jewish congregations. If one family from every single church fostered, the problem would be solved. But the reality is even more modest than that: if one family from every four churches stepped up, every child without a placement would be housed, with excess capacity ready for the next child to enter the system. The barrier, Lilley argues, is not logistical — it's psychological. The bystander effect: everybody assumes someone else will do it. Combined with the discomfort of the subject and the myth that only 'special people' can foster, the vast majority of churches do nothing while the crisis compounds.
There are 350,000 active Protestant churches in the U.S. and 344,000 children in foster care. If one family from every four churches fostered a child, every child waiting for a home would be placed — with capacity to spare for new cases. The math is easy. The will is what's missing.
If one family from every four churches in America became a foster family, it would not only house every child waiting for a home but create a surplus of ready placements.
