What Will They Do

With new legislature going through Congress at the present time, the way we reach out to help children may be changing drastically.

There are many "children homes" in our country that were established as far back at the 1800s to provide safety, health care, and education to children whose parents could not do so.

The beginning  of these homes, was for children orphaned by war or death from sickness. In the mid 1900s these homes began to re-invent themselves, taking in children who were neglected in some way or living in an abusive family situation.

From the late 1960s to the present time, many of these homes have re-invented themselves again to be more of a community type care facility. They work with troubled children and parents to deal with issues that are causing disruption in the home so that the family can heal and co-exist in a family home situation. They help the parents and children with education and training in many trades so that they can become self sufficient, productive members of society.

Large amounts of money and trained personnel are needed in this endeavor. Many of these homes are basically operated with church funding, but they also rely on funding from our government.

Congress has not disclosed how their new legislation will affect their funding for these homes, but they are strongly pushing for the parents to step up and be responsible for their own children. This is a great concept, but it is not reality. Many of the children in these programs at present, are from families who are either dealing with some type of debilitating addiction, or are not financially capable of caring for their children.

I just pray that our leaders will weigh the consequences of their actions carefully before they cut funding for these very vital programs.