Two Sundays ago was Orphan Sunday and November is Adoption Month. On Orphan Sunday churches and organizations hosted events to raise awareness for orphan care both locally and internationally. These events are great opportunities to tell everyone about the needs that are all around us!
Also, very sad.
If you missed an Orphan Sunday event you’re in the right place. This post is filled with facts to tug at your heart’s strings. Kids are precious. They all need love. Adults do too, but kids need it a little more. Orphan Sunday and Adoption Month are about family.
Orphan Facts and Statistics: (taken from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute)
In the U.S. 400,540 children are living without permanent families in the foster care system. 115,000 of these children are eligible for adoption, but nearly 40% of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted.
Source: AFCARS Report, No. 19
Around the world, there are an estimated 153 million orphans who have lost one parent. There are 17,900,000 orphans who have lost both parents and are living in orphanages or on the streets and lack the care and attention required for healthy development. These children are at risk for disease, malnutrition, and death.
No child under three years of age should be placed in institutional care without a parent or primary caregiver. This is based on results from 32 European countries, including nine in-depth country studies, which considered the “risk of harm in terms of attachment disorder, developmental delay and neural atrophy in the developing brain.”
Children raised in orphanages have an IQ 20 points lower than their peers in foster care, according to a meta-analysis of 75 studies (more than 3,800 children in 19 countries). This shows the need for children to be raised in families, not in institutions.
Source: IQ of Children Growing Up in Children’s Homes A Meta-Analysis on IQ Delays in Orphanages
Each year, over 27,000 youth “age out” of foster care without the emotional and financial support necessary to succeed. This number has steadily risen over the past decade. Nearly 40% had been homeless or couch surfed, nearly 60% of young men had been convicted of a crime, and only 48% were employed. 75% of women and 33% of men receive government benefits to meet basic needs. 50% of all youth who aged out were involved in substance use and 17% of the females were pregnant.
Source: Fostering Connections
Nearly 25% of youth aging out did not have a high school diploma or GED, and a mere 6% had finished a two- or four-year degree after aging out of foster care. One study shows 70% of all youth in foster care have the desire to attend college.
Source: Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth
Over three years is the average length of time a child waits to be adopted in foster care. Roughly 55% of these children have had three or more placements. An earlier study found that 33% of children had changed elementary schools five or more times, losing relationships and falling behind educationally.
Source: AFCARS Report, No. 19
Adopted children make-up roughly 2% of the total child population under the age of 18, but 11% of all adolescents referred for therapy have been adopted. Post-adoption services are important to all types of adoption, whether foster care adoption, international adoption, or domestic infant adoption.
Source: Behavior Problems and Mental Health Contacts in Adopted, Foster and Nonadopted Children
These stats are so sad. Every child should have a family. I am thankful for the people who work toward this goal every day.
Here is an awesome story of adoption that a friend sent me this week. Read or watch the video below.
Here are some more resources from the Christian Alliance for Orphans specifically for Orphan Sunday. I encourage you to do some research this month and learn more about the needs in your community and in your world. People need you!
This is an orphan elephant. Not as important as an orphan child, but still freakin’ adorable.
theeckerthouse 