Change is coming to the South Carolina foster care system.

Currently, when there are not foster parents available to host a child, that child will be moved to a group home. However, in an effort to ensure the best care for young children, children six years and younger will now require a foster family placement.

Experts agree, these early years are some of the most developmentally vulnerable for a child. A safe, caring environment filled with healthy caretaker attention, regular expressions of affection, and opportunities for sensory stimulation help to set young children up for future success. Similarly, when these key markers are minimal or altogether lacking, the effects to a child’s development can be detrimental for the long-term.

Children belong in families. This God-given structure has proven critical to an individual’s growth and development later in life. It is parents who are given the biblical responsibility to “train up a child in the way he should go.” (Proverbs 22:6) And, when a parent chooses to abdicate this responsibility, we who believe in Jesus must be willing to stand in the gap.

This transition in South Carolina will create a rise in the need for foster families. As the church, we are responsible for the orphaned and the vulnerable. Will you respond to this need by opening your home?

For more information regarding our ministry OVC: Foster & Adopt, click here.