Adoption and Foster Care in Light of Coronavirus

As a Father of 3 adopted children and co-founder of All Things New, a ministry that runs an orphanage in Haiti, taking care of hurting, orphaned and abandoned children is very important to me. I also know that if you ask anyone, "Do you care about and want to help hurting, orphaned and abandoned children?" then you would probably say a resounding "yes." I also think that, because of the pandemic that we are experiencing right now, we may just have the chance to prove what we would easily say.

As the Coronavirus continues to rapidly work itself through American and the entire world, there are going to be a lot of ripple effects. Many people are not getting paid because they are not working. People are going to lose jobs. There will be financial ruin. The economic situation in our country continues to weaken. The stress and anxiety of purposefully distancing ourselves from others will take a psychological effect. Many people are scared and this fear will continue even after the virus. These are all obvious ripple effects on top of the actual effects and without going even deeper. 

What I truly believe could be one of the deeper effects of the coronavirus is in the field of adoption and foster care both in America and around the world. I believe that 3 things will greatly change the landscape of adoption and foster care:

1. A decrease in the accessibility of and in turn the number of abortions that are performed.
2. An increase in isolation and a decrease in support for birth families trying to care for their children.
3. Organizations losing the ability to minister to and supply aid to foster families, birth moms, and adoptive families.

You have probably already noticed that I am not asking for support for All Things New with this blog. Instead, I am pleading for everyone that is reading this right now to figure out what you can do to help what could be an impending crisis. I am asking for more than money, I am asking that you be ready to step in when the time is right to be the body of Christ for children. Here are some things that you may decide to do:

• Get yourself and your family ready to become a foster home.
• Complete a home study and let DCFS or a local adoption agency know that you are ready to become a parent to a child or infant that needs adoption.
• Figure out how to help other foster and/or adoptive families take care of additional children during this time.

I am not going to insult your intelligence by giving you a list of options that you could figure out for yourself, but what I am saying is that things are changing, and orphaned, abandoned and/or children in need will be some of the casualties if we do not step up. Ask anyone that you know that is involved in foster care or adoption and they will tell you that the system is already taxed in a normal time. If we sit back and do nothing, think about how many children will not be getting the care and love that they need and deserve.