During the past year we admitted over 25,000 kids. Every year that number grows because the problems sending kids to our door grow. How we would love to stem that tide. But as we look at the culture, we see only a rising influx of kids, because that culture is producing these kids by the thousands. There are lots of things awry in our culture that militate against children, their health and happiness.
None is more destructive, however, than the disintegration of the family.
Divorce rates remain high, at about 20 divorces per 100 married women. Many kids are lost in the pain and suffering resulting from separation and divorce. Single parenthood itself is not at fault. The problem is in the resulting lack of time that most single parents have to care for their children because of the combined pressures of work and home management. Numbers are cold and impersonal, but when they are attached to individuals and to their stories, they become deadly predictors of a future of hurt and pain for lots of kids.