“It has been almost 6 years since my husband and I gave a shaky yes to stepping into the world of foster care. We knew little about the ins and outs of the preparation that it would take for our home and family. We knew little about the process of making the decision to say yes to a placement and all the people and appointments and adjustments that follow. We knew little about how many no’s we would have to give as we took into account the details about the child that needed placement alongside the needs of the children already in our home.

Unfortunately, no matter the valid reasons that there may be for saying no, older children in foster care face invisible hurdles when they are being considered for placement by prospective foster homes. Factors that might work against them are their age, number of times in care, number of times they have been moved from home to home, history of running away, substance abuse or addiction, and perhaps most commonly, having experienced physical and sexual abuse.

There are over 400,000 children in foster care in the United States. The National Foster Youth Institute estimates up to 60% of child sex trafficking victims (roughly 100,000 reported cases nation-wide) are or have been in foster care. It should be no surprise that the mission of Esthers Rising (to provide restorative care to girls who are brought out of sex trafficking) and the needs that are presented in the foster care system (children who have experienced or who are in danger of experiencing sex trafficking) are closely related. The numbers are overwhelming, but I believe that each one of us can play a role in one way or another to combat this brokenness.

My family might have known very little about what we were really saying yes to when we opened our home to foster care, but we did know that we saw an opportunity to come alongside vulnerable children and families and to hopefully play a small part in bringing healing and restoration to the children that we welcome into our home. You might not be called to foster care, but I challenge you to see how else you can play a part in the prevention aspect of the fight against sex trafficking. The opportunities abound!”

• Liz Tramp, Volunteer Coordinator & Foster Parent