Why is orphans closing early

More often than not, siblings would be split up because most families could only afford to take on one child. Kids who weren't adopted at a train stop would have to get back on the train and sometimes travel hundreds of miles to the next one. Many orphans would dance or sing when on display in hopes of attracting the attention of an adopting family.

In the s, the orphan trains came to a halt as the government stepped in and changed the care of dependent children. It provided financial aid to single mothers so they could stay home to take care of their own kids and parentless orphans were put into the system and sent to foster care families.

States took over what orphanages used to do, although according to the America's Future website, "The evidence seems to indicate, however, that children were better off before the government intervened.

Although the Children's Aid Society stopped the orphan trains and had to close the last of its industrial schools in the s, the society still saw many orphan homeless and jobless boys and continued to place them as day laborers on farms throughout the s.

At this time, more orphans were put into public schools and the society devoted more time and money to finding foster homes for black children. They may live with a relative or neighbor or are on the street or in the jungles and subjected to one of the prior mentioned abuses. Sometimes they simply live with a blind, ill or very old relative that loves, but cannot care for them. They are many varied combinations that contribute to a child suffering without parental care, but the results are the same, regardless of the cause.

Statistically the subgroups such as these would not be counted as orphans, but by attributes associated with abuse and neglect, they are one and the same in terms of outcome for the child. Perhaps in some ways their status almost makes them invisible and the danger they are in, is misunderstood by many not familiar with their culture.

Beyond suffering and the ultimate tragedy of death, the children that do survive, often do so in ways that demeans and criminalizes themselves and brings suffering to others as well. The sad reality though, is that if a good and caring person is not there to provide what they need, who is?

Pimps, child labor bosses, terrorists, rebel armies with child soldiers, child traffickers, even less - than- good- willed- relatives who want a personal slave. The end result is truly heartbreaking as many of the orphan children out there will die of starvation and issues related to malnutrition.

They will die from preventable diseases. They will die at the hands of others and themselves. They will spend much of their life in jail. They will do harm to others and impact the world in a negative fashion. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of all is that we know how to turn tragedy into triumph We know how to turn terrible statistics into wonderful statistics. And when you help the children, you are doing a wonderful thing, but the good you have done doesn't stop there. Three years later, a German missionary opened an orphanage in Bethesda, Georgia.

By , orphanages were more prevalent, with more than two dozen orphanages built in larger American cities. Prior to the American Industrial period, displaced children were placed with foster families and earned their keep as indentured servants. By the middle of the 19th century, women who typically cared for orphaned children were driven to provide education to them, usually in the institution of an orphanage in rural areas outside of cities.

After the Civil War, states began building orphanages for war orphans. The need for larger institutions to take on parent-less children continued to grow with the Industrial Revolution. By the end of the 19th century, orphanages were considered one of the best methods for caring for dependent children, with many poor single parents regarding them as places to leave their children until circumstances improved.

Both institutions exist today, albeit with different names. After institutional care for children fell into disfavor, the shift was for children to receive more direct support and services for families with adoption becoming the goal. Orphanages began closing in the s, with many charities creating instead foster care agencies.