Christian Alliance for Orphans

One last unexpected for 2020… And a look ahead to 2021

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 12:00:25 GMT

Unexpecteds defined 2020, from masks to toilet paper runs, canceled church to at-home school. Many of these unexpecteds carried loss, some of it beyond words. And yet, as always is the case, hidden alongside (and sometimes within) those losses came so many unexpected gifts as well. I’d like to add one last unexpected for 2020, […]

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Why #9 Matters So Much to This College Football Player

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 20:37:28 GMT

In a year of unexpected things, this has to be one of my very favorite: a 2-minute football story that somehow makes you both laugh and cry at the same moment. Kari Stewart helps lead the vibrant foster and adoption ministry at Timberline Church in Colorado. I had the privilege of spending time with Kari […]

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Many Lights Shown Brightly

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 20:15:43 GMT

In a year that often felt heavy with darkness, glimpses of light shone all the more brightly. That was certainly the case with Orphan Sunday and Stand Sunday 2020, all across America and around the world. The theme this year could not have been more apt: Be the Light. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, […]

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Normal, Regular, Everyday People

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 15:49:03 GMT

Foster care activity isn’t bad. In fact, foster care activity is what has protected children, reunified families, and created new families for decades. Foster care activity includes all the functions of professional agencies and other organizations that seek the well-being of children and families. So, foster care activity isn’t bad — it just isn’t enough. […]

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Guidelines and Resources for Healthy Sponsorship Programs

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 22:00:20 GMT

You’ve seen the images hanging on the wall in your church sanctuary, smiling out from social media squares, or attached with a brightly-colored magnet to your friend’s refrigerator: the precious faces of children from around the world receiving support through a child sponsorship program. Perhaps your own heart was pricked by their sweet faces, and […]

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Where Broken Roads Can Lead

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 19:46:42 GMT

Bishop Aaron Blake, a bi-vocational pastor and high school guidance counselor, arrived in family court for the first time regarding the case of one of his teenage foster sons. He recalls, “One of my boy’s rights were being terminated – I didn’t know what that meant.” He sat there through the morning waiting for the […]

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Child Welfare in the Midst of the Pandemic

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 21:30:30 GMT

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted a web-based event for DC policymakers and leaders nationwide, Child Welfare in the Midst of the Pandemic. The event offered a serious look at the impact of COVID response on children and child welfare systems across the country. Presenters spotlighted a range of critical issues, from the projected spikes […]

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Collateral Beauty of COVID-19: Gifts We May Have Missed

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 17:08:58 GMT

We’ve all experienced disruption and difficulty from COVID-19, some of it severe. But amidst it all, many gifts have also arrived unexpectedly — some of them despite, and some even because of the hard things. At the CAFO “Small Matters” gathering last month, one workshop speaker asked participants to share unanticipated hardships they’d faced due to […]

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Anxious this Year? Little Choices Can Make a Difference ("Small Matters” Keynote)

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 17:11:30 GMT

I’ve felt the tug of anxiety this year more than ever in my life. I don’t mean the sharp, clinical kind. Rather, it’s more like a low-grade fever. Sometimes the feeling fades to almost nothing. Other days it threatens to color everything I see. Many, many friends have confessed similar feelings. It’s as if anxiety […]

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Groundbreaking Study on Adults Who Experienced Childhood Separation from Parents

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 19:37:17 GMT

This month, the CAFO Center on Applied Research for Vulnerable Children and Families is launching an expansive new research project on the unique experiences and special strengths of individuals who lived apart from parental care as children in any nation around the world — whether in residential care, foster care or otherwise. A huge array […]

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Washington Examiner: US Children Facing Increased Risk of Abuse under COVID

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:37:21 GMT

The article Invisible Children in the Washington Examiner explains how COVID lockdowns and closures – while protecting children from catching or spreading the virus – have boosted risks of abuse while decreasing the likelihood anyone will notice. It begins with statistics on dramatic drops in reports of child abuse: from 51% in New York to 55% in Massachusetts. But […]

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New: CAFO Study on the Rapid Return of Children in Residential Care to Family as a Result of ...

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 01:00:37 GMT

COVID-19 continues to impact vulnerable children and families around the world. In response to the pandemic, some governments have required residential care providers to rapidly return children to families without proper preparation for the transition. While family reunification should be a priority whenever possible, these mandates put many nonprofits in a challenging position by forcing […]

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Citizenship for Adopted Kids Who Were Left Out

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 20:20:44 GMT

CAFO’s primary focus isn’t government, but we see every day that government policies can have a profound impact – for good or for ill – on the lives of children. That’s certainly the case with a loophole that has existed for many years in U.S. international adoption law. As a result, some individuals adopted decades […]

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Humanitarian Photographer Ronnie Mosely – Pictures That Move You to Action

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 15:00:52 GMT

Photographer Ronnie Mosely came to his vocation through pain. He and his wife Carol lost their beloved daughter to cancer. They’ll mourn that loss the rest of their days. But they also have seen God’s redemptive work amidst it, leading them through their own sorrow to advocate for others who face deep sorrow as well […]

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NEW: CAFO Study of COVID-19 Impact on Vulnerable Children and the Organizations that Serve Them

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 01:42:38 GMT

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact life across the globe. As in virtually all crises, the most impacted are often those who are already the most vulnerable, including children at risk. To learn more about how this unprecedented situation is influencing the lives of vulnerable children and families, the CAFO Center for Applied Research, Samford […]

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FREE CAFO Family Devotional Event & Guide – September 10 – Responding to Evil

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 15:17:16 GMT

Our world today often feels out-of-sorts. Hurting. Upside-down. We feel it. Our kids do, too. From the constraints of COVID … to the pain of racial conflict … to personal anxiety. It all leaves us asking, “What do God’s people do when we encounter evil and brokenness in our world?” At 7 PM EST on […]

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The Connected Parent: Real-Life Strategies for Building Trust and Attachment

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 19:19:04 GMT

There Is Hope for Every Child, Every Parent, and Every Family Parenting under the best of circumstances can be difficult. And raising children who have come to your home from “hard places,” who have their own set of unique needs, brings even more challenges. You may have discovered that the techniques that worked with your […]

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The Gospel Coalition Highlights Unique Struggles of Adoptive Families

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 22:36:04 GMT

The Gospel Coalition this week released a penetrating article spotlighting the sometimes-intense struggles that adoptive families can face, particularly as children who’ve experienced severe neglect or abuse enter adolescence. “As Adoption Ages: How Parents Are Handling Teen Challenges,” by Sarah Zylstra. The article’s title hints at the large number of families that adopted children a […]

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On Speaking Up for Little Brothers

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:05:30 GMT

I have two older brothers which can be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you have someone to play baseball with. On the other hand, you have someone who can throw a baseball REALLY hard and can hit you in the stomach with it when you are up to bat in your backyard, rendering […]

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Executive Order to Strengthen Child Welfare

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 22:27:12 GMT

Fewer and fewer issues today transcend red versus blue political lines. Thankfully, the protection and well-being of children still often does. Today, President Trump signed an Executive Order designed to strengthen America’s child welfare system. Analysts and advocates are sifting through the details, but the objectives of the order and the high-level directives it carries […]

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