Christian Alliance for Orphans

06/02/2026

05/30/2026

“If every church raised up one foster family, we’d solve the crisis.”
It’s clear. It’s compelling. It makes the problem feel solvable.

But foster care isn’t a closed equation. Families step in and sometimes step out. Kids enter care every day. Needs shift, complexities grow.

And not every church is positioned to raise up a foster family. Some are far better equipped to wrap around the families already in the work. To support biological families. To fund prevention. To provide respite. When we flatten that, we diminish the church’s capacity instead of unleashing it.

The richer invitation: BECOME the kind of community that consistently and creatively shows up for vulnerable children and families. Not a one-time outcome. An ongoing identity.

When the church steps into that vision together, the impact moves beyond anything a formula could ever produce.

Read the full piece from Jason Johnson on the CAFO blog. https://cafo.org/foster-care-math-the-limits-of-if-every-church-raised-up-one-foster-family/

05/28/2026

Jason doesn't like running. At all. But he has a trick to keep himself moving: focusing on just making it to the next street light, rather than focusing on the miles in front of him.

When we're trying to engage churches in the world of foster care, sometimes we ask them to run three miles out of the gate, putting huge numbers and challenges in front of them.

But a more effective approach? Using local data to help them get to the next "light post," making the problem feel solvable and guiding them to realistic, meaningful next steps.

Hear more from Jason Johnson about effective church engagement on the CAFO blog at the link below.

https://cafo.org/local-data-an-overlooked-piece-in-the-church-engagement-toolkit/

05/27/2026

In communities across the country, organizations and ministries are running hard to engage and equip churches to move deeper into the world of foster care.

But there’s a tool that’s easy to overlook.

One of the most helpful tools for engaging churches in the world of foster care is not simply passion or vision — it’s clarity. And one of the most powerful ways to create that clarity is through local data.

To explore why data is so important in mobilizing churches, head over to the CAFO blog at the link below and read more from Jason Johnson.

https://cafo.org/local-data-an-overlooked-piece-in-the-church-engagement-toolkit/

05/25/2026

What happens when a church truly lives out “pure religion”?

Austin Ludwig knows firsthand. After growing up in foster care and experiencing abuse and instability, Austin encountered something that changed everything: people from a local church who showed up.

They built a relationship with him, they cared for him and they lived out the gospel in a way that he could see in the midst of his pain.

As Austin describes it, “I saw the hand of God before I saw His face … because I saw the Body — the Church, the Ecclesia — reaching out to me and lifting that veil so I could see the face of God more clearly.”

Through that relationship, Austin was placed in a Christ-centered foster home, setting him on a new path. Today, he works to mobilize and equip other families and churches to show up for vulnerable children.

But that kind of love isn’t easy. It requires sacrifice and stepping into hard places.

Yet, as Austin shares, there’s a paradox: “When churches are embodying pure religion, when they experience suffering or difficult things because they’re engaging the vulnerable, they’ll feel also somehow, in a paradoxical way, maximum sense of purpose.”

05/22/2026

What does Marco Polo (yes, the pool game) have to do with foster care?

Imagine playing it without ever yelling "Marco!" to prompt the responding chorus of "Polo!". Best of luck to you. No matter how quick you are, it's going to lead to a lot of aimless thrashing around.

Sometimes, in the complex world of foster care, we feel like we're lunging this way and that without anything to guide us.

Our equivalent to yelling “Marco” is identifying strategic data points that can help us define what we’re aiming at … and then listening to the responding “Polo” the numbers show.

Head over to the CAFO blog at the link below to hear more from Jason about how communities like yours are leveraging local data to help drive real change.

https://cafo.org/marco-polo-and-leveraging-your-communitys-foster-care-data/

05/21/2026

Core Elements Self-Assessment is now Core Elements CareIndex!

CareIndex helps organizations move from hoping their programs are effective to a deeper, better understanding of what is working, where there is room for growth and what next steps may be needed.

Through this free assessment (valued at $599), leaders can evaluate their programs across 21 key areas that impact quality of care for children and families. After completing CareIndex, organizations will receive a customized report with a clearer picture of their strengths and areas for growth --- helping teams reflect, learn and take practical next steps toward better care.

Learn more about the Core Elements CareIndex and begin your assessment today: cafo.org/careindex

05/19/2026

Foster care is a world where we enter waters of so much need and complexity, only to find ourselves trying to solve problems with solutions that continue to elude us. We organize awareness campaigns, host recruitment and drive events, build programs and mobilize our communities to engage.

And yet we still feel like we are thrashing around, grasping for anything that might work without being sure that we’ve even made progress.

It's like playing Marco Polo without ever yelling "Marco!"

Our equivalent to yelling “Marco” is this: identifying strategic data points that can help us define what we’re aiming at … and then listening to the responding “Polo” the numbers show.

Without that, progress toward more than enough for children and families will continue to elude us. So what happens when communities take the time to yell “Marco,” identifying key pieces of data, and then charging hard after what the numbers indicate?

To find out, head over to the CAFO blog at the link below and read Jason Weber's latest.

https://cafo.org/marco-polo-and-leveraging-your-communitys-foster-care-data/

05/16/2026

What if there's a richer, more effective invitation for churches in our communities than "raise up a foster family?"

Language like "if every church raised up one foster family, we would eradicate the crisis” is common in the world of foster care.

But as Jason Johnson, National Director of Church Engagement and Mobilization at CAFO, shares, this language can unintentionally misdirect churches or cast too narrow a vision for what it means to care for vulnerable children and families.

We have a beautiful invitation to offer churches in our communities, but it's an invitation built on identity transformation. Not a transaction or a formula.

Hear more from Jason on the CAFO blog at the link below: https://cafo.org/foster-care-math-the-limits-of-if-every-church-raised-up-one-foster-family/