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Facts About Foster Youth & Orphans

ORPHAN FACTS

  • There are over 154 million orphans worldwide. 

  • Every day 5,726 children become orphans somewhere in the world. 

  • Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out of the system with no family to belong to and no place to call home.

  • HIV/AIDS has orphaned 17.9 million children, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

  • Over 7 million children are in institutional care worldwide.

  • 40,000 children under the age of 5 die a week due to unclean water

 

YOUTH & FOSTER CARE FACTS

  • 399, 546 children in the US Foster Care system. 

  • 101,719 are waiting to be adopted from the foster care system. 

  • 55,925 children age 1 year and younger were placed in Foster Care 

  • 23, 439 Children “aging out” of the foster system 

  • The average age of a child waiting to be adopted: 7.8 years old

  • Foster Children have a 50% dropout rate

  • 1 in 30 children is homeless in America.

  • 50% of youth aging out of the foster care system will be homeless within 6 months because, without a stable home life, they never learned the skills needed to live independently.

  • Within 72 hours of being on the streets, a homeless youth is approached for sex. 

  • 49% of homeless youth have been sexually exploited. 

  • Adopting from foster care is an affordable way to give a child a loving family.

  • Most state child welfare agencies can assist with the costs of home studies and court fees, and provide post-adoption subsidies.

 

*Many employers offer financial reimbursement and paid leave for employees who adopt and Federal and/or state adoption tax credits are available to most families.

 

*Adopting from foster care is a permanent solution. Once a child is adopted out of foster care, their birth parents cannot attempt to claim them; or fight in court for their return. A family formed through foster care adoption is forever.

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ADULT FACTS

  • It only takes 1 caring adult to make a difference in the lifetime of a child. Will you be the one to make a difference?

                "In you, orphans find mercy" Hosea 14:3

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