In a world where foster care serves as a gateway to crime, homelessness, trauma, and suffering, Brian Mavis calls churches to four simple steps to address this need at the source.

First, Mavis asks pastors to meet with local child welfare workers and private agencies to get a feel for the extent of the issue. He then incites pastors to turn empathy into action in a second step by reading about trauma and foster care.

As a third step, Mavis suggests educating congregations by dedicating Mother’s Day to preach about children in foster care who need mothers. Finally, he asks churches to open themselves up for foster care training to prepare new families to join the solution.