How Can We Help? Dr. Sharen Ford on the Church and the Child Welfare System

Rick Morton and Herbie Newell sit down with Dr. Sharen Ford, director of foster care and adoption at Focus on the Family, who spent 30 years in Colorado's state child welfare system. Sharen describes her calling and what real collaboration between the church and government requires. She offers practical ways to encourage overworked caseworkers, and ways to get involved, from CASA volunteering to transporting children and preparing visitation rooms. She explains how churches can accidentally hurt the system, why humility, listening, and following through matter, and why foster care is about reunification rather than adoption first. The conversation closes with a call to build relationships with local agencies before a crisis, to walk alongside birth families, and to trust God with the next step.