Church, Trafficking, & Foster Care

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

"
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" --Isaiah 58:7 (emphasis added by me)​

This video speaks from a Christian perspective on the rampant trafficking & abuse within the US Foster Care system.

What do you think about this video?

 

[Daniisa]

I think that each of us should pay attention to this and disclose information about it. I have recently read various topics about foster care and this is really a problem that is often overlooked. I had the opportunity to read well-founded and meaningful essays on this topic on the weblink. But I realized that we really need to pay more attention to such situations as foster families, orphans, and violence against children. After all, only if we learn more about this will we be able to get positive growth in the field of social services.

 

[seeking.IAM]

I worked in the foster care system for 7 years. There are many good and well-intentioned persons opening their homes to children needing a safe refuge. Sadly, there are also some people who exploit children, either for fianical gain or other personal gratification - sexual or otherwise. The problem for me as a caseworker making placements was knowing the difference at time of placement. No screening measures are foolproof.

That said, I watched the video twice looking for reference to what the OP called "rampant trafficking and abuse within the foster care system." I didn't find it. She said growing up in the foster care system made her vulnerable to being trafficked by the man who approached her when she was 10. She didn't say the man was part of the foster care system. She said not having attachments and not feeling valued in the foster care system made her vulnerable to being trafficked. Does abuse exist in the foster care system? Yes. However, I think it is an overstatement to call it rampant.

My other reaction was one of sadness when she speaks about what the church can do. I am very happy the church was a place of solace for her. Unfortunately, there are also youth who turned to the church as a place of solace only to be exploited and sexually abused by clergy. That, too, makes me sad and angry.

 

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

That said, I watched the video twice looking for reference to what the OP called "rampant trafficking and abuse within the foster care system." I didn't find it. She said growing up in the foster care system made her vulnerable to being trafficked by the man who approached her when she was 10. She didn't say the man was part of the foster care system. She said not having attachments and not feeling valued in the foster care system made her vulnerable to being trafficked. Does abuse exist in the foster care system? Yes. However, I think it is an overstatement to call it rampant.

Perhaps I made an overstatement in the context of this video, though I would encourage you to look up "Human trafficking in foster care" for more general statistics than this video offers.

My other reaction was one of sadness when she speaks about what the church can do. I am very happy the church was a place of solace for her. Unfortunately, there are also youth who turned to the church as a place of solace only to be exploited and sexually abused by clergy. That, too, makes me sad and angry.

I have always heard of sex abuse by clergy as something distant, until it came out that the diocese of my college, where I had attended the Cathedral & seen the Bishop, had a great deal of cases that were all disregarded by the Bishop. I cannot express my feelings after finding that out; the next time I saw a picture of the Bishop, I just about punched a hole through it, feeling betrayed by a man I didn't know existed until a year ago, but someone who let this crime run through the Church. A priest I had as a professor was actually the whistleblower in the Diocese against this.

Here's a few articles about him. It may be a little off-track, but it's my own thread, and this is important enough to me to voice that there are clergy who are strong enough to oppose this kind of abuse you mention:

Illinois Bishop Forces Whistleblower Priest Onto Sabbatical

https://www.usfencounter.stfrancis.edu/single-post/2018/12/05/Father-Jankowskis-Personal-Reflection

The second article glosses over details, but from my conversations with him & his father's cousin's roommate that I'm related to (long story), the health issues were largely due to the stress of having this weigh on his mind for so long. But he can fire off Bible verses about being blessed in the face of persecution & the warning against letting sin run free so quickly it's evident he's had to think of these verses a long time.

 

[pipahaha]

I find this campaign very meaningful

word counter​

 

[DerrickOlley]

Faith alone saves us!