Orphanages are not the answer

In “The tragedy of orphanages,” a TED talk by Georgette Mulheir, Mulheir shares how the institutionalization of orphan care results in tragic results. Kids who grow up in orphanages are likely to experience significant social, physical, and cognitive harm.

Orphanages are also correlated with poverty, crime, and sex trafficking:

Moldova – study: Young women from orphanages are 10 times more likely to be trafficked than their peers.

Russia – study of orphans within two years of graduation from an orphanage:

  • 14 percent of women involved in prostitution
  • 22 percent hold a criminal record
  • 10 percent have committed suicide

The tragedy is that so many of these “orphans” have a living parent. Poverty is the largest driver of institutionalized care.  The solution isn’t building more orphanages; it’s finding creative ways for each child to grow up in a home.

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We need to go beyond orphanages, and there’s a new book that helps us discover why and how.

You really need to read Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting, written by my friend Johnny Carr, national director of church partnerships at Bethany Christian Services.

Johnny’s book is a vital perspective that there is no one-size fit-all solution to the global orphan crisis.  And not everyone is supposed to adopt – but we’re all called to care for widows and orphans in their distress.

Orphan Justice encourages us to see Christ’s call for the Church—to restore the family. It enables us to realize the complexity of the problem and the many different ways we are to respond.

Adoption is one option. Providing family support services or taking part in foster care  are also alternatives.  For example, in Ethiopia, Bethany Christian Services supports community-based care. They place orphans in homes in that community—with the intention that the families will ultimately adopt them. It’s also about prevention. Helping families grow their income enables then to bring more children into their home.

Whether it’s coming alongside families or adopting a child, the Bible is clear about one thing: caring for orphans is at the heart of Christ’s mission for the Church.

For another post on orphan care, see When Building Orphanages Isn’t Enough.

 

5 Comments

  1. Lisa Bartelt
    March 5, 2013

    I’m reading Orphan Justice right now. Informative and eye-opening. I didn’t know orphanages were outlawed in the U.S., which makes me wonder then why we “allow” it in other countries. Such a challenging read in that it is making me ask hard questions of myself and the Church.

    Reply
    1. Peter Greer
      April 16, 2013

      Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Orphan Justice is a GREAT book and Johnny is a hero of mine. If you’re interested in learning more on the topic, here’s another post on the link between poverty and orphan care: http://www.peterkgreer.com/2012/07/05/who-are-our-worlds-orphans/. Again, thanks for approaching this topic thoughtfully!

      Reply
  2. Seth
    March 5, 2013

    Then there are fake orphanages. In Cambodia, volunteer tourism has become popular enough that unscrupulous people have started orphanages to cater to them, giving people a sense they are doing good, but just using the children. They may borrow the children for the day, or they may just underserve children on an ongoing basis.

    It’s not surprising that kids from orphanages statically do worse than their peers, considering why they are orphans in the first place, so those stats don’t necessarily support that orphanages are harmful, but it does support your primary point, that they aren’t the answer, and that we need more creative solutions involving families. It will be interesting to see how Rwanda’s move to close orphanages goes.

    Reply
  3. Wes Roberts
    March 6, 2013

    Needed and welcome insight.

    Thank you, Peter.

    Reply
  4. John H. Quinley, Jr.
    March 13, 2013

    Peter, this is such a critical issue for today. At Step Ahead the addressing of this challenge has become a core part of our work through our “Keeping Families Together” program that makes ways forward with kinship care, training, mentoring, and focused MF. http://www.stepaheadmed.org/at-risk

    Thanks for your leadership in this area.

    Reply

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