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Between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are trafficked for sexual exploitation each year.Where do these kids come from? Why aren’t people protecting these children? Many people wonder at how so many kids can be lured into such an awful life, but it’s really pretty simple. For most of these kids, there’s a void in their lives in one ofthree categories: love,safety and basics. 

  • Love: they don’t feel a sense of affection or belonging, or they don’t have a family. 
  • Safety: they need protection from abuse in their homes. 
  • Basics: they lack the necessities – food, shelter or clothing.
There are 400,000 children in foster care right now. Many of kids come from broken homes, are neglected, abandoned and in many cases abused. Some foster kids have even described how they see themselves only as a paycheck, a means of income for the foster family. They feel unloved and unwanted, and subsequently run away.In fact, in 2014, 68% of runaways who were sexually trafficked were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran.1  
From a trafficker’s perspective, these children have already been through the training grounds to be trafficked. “Craving attention and stability, a child who has been moved from one placement to another can easily find themselves lured into a world of promises made by the trafficker, only to find themselves used for financial gain. Many children in foster care have been previously abused, putting them at further risk.”2

[image class=”mtn” src=”https://lifefortheinnocent.org//wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2014/09/Our-Response_blog-01.png”][image src=”https://lifefortheinnocent.org//wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2014/09/Adoption_image.jpg”]What can we do with such a broken system? “We need to recruit healthy, specialized, viable families” to give the children a place to belong,’ says Rosario Dowling, a program director for a Sacramento nonprofit.3 She’s not the first to say so.  James 1:27 gives a clear command to followers of Jesus: “Anyone who sets himself up as ‘religious’ by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”[custom_headline class=”mtn” level=”h5″]Let’s stop talking about justice and actually DO it![/custom_headline]Will you consider opening your home and heart to become a foster or adoptive family?  If you’re not able or qualified to foster or adopt, you can support a foster family in your church, or support an organization like Project 1.27, which bridges the gap between Christian families and kids in foster care. There are hundreds of thousands of children in need of protection and a safe place to grow. May is National Foster Care Month. What will YOU do right now to reach out and show them they are loved?

[content_band style=”padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-top:0px; color:#333;” bg_color=”#ffb500″ border=”all” inner_container=”true”][custom_headline level=”h4″ looks_like=”h5″]Meet our Partners![/custom_headline]Strategic Partners are front-line organizations with practical opportunities for you to prevent trafficking, intervene when necessary, and aid the restoration of survivors. The greatest desire of Project 1.27 is to see a family waiting for every child. To achieve this, they inspire, recruit and resource churches and families to foster and adopt the kids in their own backyard. Through the training and support of foster and adoptive parents, families are better prepared and encouraged throughout their journey. To further understand this colossal need and how Project 1.27 can help you become a foster or adoptive family, watch this 2-minute video below.[image src=”https://lifefortheinnocent.org//wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2014/09/Project127_bloglogo-01.png”][/content_band]

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[custom_headline style=”margin-top: 0;” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h3″]Additional Resources:[/custom_headline][icon_list style=”color: #9fa1a1;”] [icon_list_item]• Recognize the Signs of a Trafficking Victim[/icon_list_item] [icon_list_item]• Sex-trafficking Stings Highlight Vulnerability of Foster Children[/icon_list_item] [icon_list_item]• Human Trafficking: What Foster Parents Should Know[/icon_list_item] [/icon_list]

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[custom_headline style=”margin-top: 0;” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h3″]Footnotes[/custom_headline][icon_list][icon_list_item]1http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts[/icon_list_item][icon_list_item]2http://blog.acton.org/archives/70997-foster-care-system-becoming-pipeline-human-trafficking.html[/icon_list_item][icon_list_item]3http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jul/29/nation/la-na-child-sex-20130730[/icon_list_item][/icon_list]