Foster Care Prayer Requests...

1.Pray for the children entering foster care today, that they find an appropriate, kind and loving foster family to care for them until their birth families or relatives are able to do so.

2.Pray for the sibling groups of children entering foster care today, that they will be placed together in one foster home.

3.Pray for all the foster children in care, that their first foster home is also their last foster home, as multiple placements rob children of stability and love which is required to build the self-esteem needed to grow into responsible, caring adults.

4.Pray that more singles, couples and families become foster parents. More experienced and caring foster homes are needed to enable Division of Youth and Families Services to make appropriate placements that keep siblings together, make the first foster placement the only foster care placement, and assure each foster home is able and willing to meet the special needs of their foster children.

5.Pray that all children in out-of-home care will quickly return to a safe home or find an alternative permanent and loving home.

6.Please pray for God's intervention with all families, particularly those struggling against alcohol and drug abuse, and mental illness, to enable them to successfully complete programs for recovery, and allow the reunification of foster children to safe and caring birth families.

7.Please pray that the federal, state and local governments, will see the plight of so many of our children whose families are wrecked by drug and alcohol abuse, and work toward prevention and increasing services for addicts, particularly addicts with children.

8.Pray that God blesses all the Division of Youth and Families Services caseworkers and staff who make decisions daily which have a huge impact on the lives of children and families. Their job is a thankless one, requiring walking a thin line, in that they are continually criticized for being too intrusive, removing children too quickly; and for not acting quickly enough, whenever a child is abused.

9.When a family reunification is unlikely in a reasonable time period, we pray that God's hand guides the judges at termination of parental rights trials to make their decision in the child's best interest. God bless the judges who must decide whether or not children return to birth families or become freed for adoption.

10.Pray for all those children whose birth families are unable to care for them, are freed for adoption, but have nobody willing to give them a forever home. Although more than 80 percent of foster children freed for adoption are adopted by their foster families, today there are thousands of children awaiting forever homes.

11.Pray that foster and adoptive families and their children receive the support and understanding of their communities.

12.bless those who put idea into action and make a positive difference in the lives of children, particularly children in foster care.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janet Farrand is a 15 year foster and adoptive parent, President of Foster and Adoptive Family Services, and founder of the program. Janet and Geneva Hill, a foster and adoptive parent and past President of the Essex County Foster and Adoptive Family Services, wrote the prayer concerns. Janet can be reached at jlfarrand@earthlink.net. For more information about becoming a foster parent or adopting call your local family & children services.