Creating Unity to End the Child Welfare Crisis
How We Got Here and Where We're Going
By: Christian Postel | CEO
September 19, 2025
I never planned to get involved in foster care. I didn’t know much about the system, and in all honestly, I wasn’t looking for a way in.
But here’s what I couldn’t ignore: in Lexington right now, there are more than 630 children in foster care and just over 200 open foster homes. That’s not a gap, that’s a cliff. And every one of those numbers is actually a name with a face and a story.
Over the last eighteen months, I’ve learned that most people are like I was, unaware of how bad the crisis really is, locally and nationally. But once you do realize it, the next question stares you in the face: what are we going to do about it?
That question pulled me into conversations I never expected to have. Conversations that are reshaping how I see the crisis itself and the Church’s role in it. And now, LLF is leaning on more than 25 years of trusted relationships in this city to help solve it.
In February of 2024, I was invited with a group of faith leaders to a meeting in Frankfort with the Department for Community Based Services, which oversees foster care. I didn’t know what I was walking into, but I knew I wanted to make some kind of deposit. Driving past the horse farms of South Lexington, through Versailles, and into Frankfort’s government maze, I carried that odd mix of hope and naivety that usually gets replaced later in life by either cynicism or calling.
Director of Unity in Action, Reuben Watson, speaks from the podcium during Unity in Action Launch Event
That day in Frankfort, I stayed quiet for most of the meeting, but eventually asked the folks from DCBS if they’d be willing to set aside the diplomacy and just be candid: “What do you really want to know about the faith community, and what do you want us to do?” One of them didn’t hesitate: “Honestly, we just want to know where y’all have been.” None of us had a good answer. And I was grateful no one tried to fake one. We left that meeting with an assignment: find out.
What I didn’t realize then was that this meeting would open a door for the faith community in Lexington. And for LLF, it was the same highway, just a different lane. Not more frontline prevention work (we’ll keep doing that through our youth empowerment work), but unity and mobilization of people of faith.
Director of Unity in Action, Reuben Watson (left), CommerceLex Chief of Staff, Lynda Bebrowsky (center), and CommerceLex CEO gather at Unity in Action Launch Event
We began learning from others around the country who were a few steps ahead; nonprofits, networks, even state agencies. People who had already rolled up their sleeves and could share what worked and what didn’t. One day, I hope we can pay that same generosity forward.
At LLF, our model is simple: connect, unify, and mobilize people of faith and goodwill for the renewal of our city. As the conversations deepened, it became clear that if this crisis is going to end, we’ll need a public-private partnership. The government can’t fix it alone. The Church can’t fix it alone. Money can’t fix it alone. Only people can. People showing up with love, consistency, and presence.
Statewide, over 8,500 children are in out of home care. Nationally, 343,000 children live in foster care, and more than 7 million interact with the child welfare system each year. Nearly 90% of these children will experience severe trauma. Of those who age out of the system, 40% will become homeless within 18 months. 81% of young men will be incarcerated. And 71% of young women will become pregnant before the age of 26, and half of their children will end up in foster care.
But here’s the sobering part: most of these cases, three out of four, aren’t about abuse. They’re about neglect, often driven by poverty. A mom who can’t afford diapers. A family with the lights turned off. A child removed because there’s no bed in the house. In the child welfare space, the line between poverty and neglect is as thin as a blade of bluegrass.
This is where the Church comes in. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” The question is whether we’re willing to look after. Not just by asking, “Would you consider becoming a foster parent?” but also by asking, “How could you join the ecosystem of care around foster parents and around single parents working hard to earn back custody of their children.” Maybe that’s trauma-informed babysitting. Maybe it’s buying a bed. Maybe it’s groceries, mentoring, prayer, or building support circles around vulnerable families. Not everyone is called to foster. But everyone is called to do something.
Photo from Lexington Leadership Foundation Unity in Action Launch Event, captured on August 19
That’s what it means to be the Church, and what we do together becomes a collective witness to the world.
So here’s what we’re doing: in partnership with the state, LLF has hired a full-time role to unify the faith community around this mission.
Not sure we should be in partnership with state government? Read more about my thinking on this here.
And I’m thrilled to tell you that Reuben Watson has joined our team as our new Director of Unity in Action to do just that. If you know Reuben, you know his story. God has called him to end the child welfare crisis, and we’re humbled that he wants to do that work with us.
We also want to honor all the incredible people already on the frontlines; case workers, agencies, and foster families. You need more volunteers, more engaged congregations, and more neighbors who understand what you’re carrying. Please know that we are for you and we’re here to support your work.
This isn’t new territory for LLF. For over 25 years, we’ve been in the child welfare prevention space. Every year, our mentors give over 9,000 hours walking alongside kids with incarcerated parents. Last year alone, we served more than 2,800 youth and families through after-school programs, violence prevention, and clubs. Our Fatherhood Initiative walked with 701 dads, representing 1,751 children, including 122 fathers in jail, to help them rebuild relationships with their kids. We do this while connecting, unifying, and mobilizing people of faith and goodwill to be part of the solution.
Christian Postel and community partners gather the evening of the Unity in Action Launch Event
And we don’t do this for the sake of politics or programs. We’re doing it because there are kids in our city who need a home, families who need someone in their corner, and countless opportunities for people to activate their faith and help end the crisis.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t be perfect. But God has always had a habit of meeting us in the mess, and turning what looks impossible into redemption.
At LLF, our vision is to see Lexington transformed into a city for God. Not measured by its economy or its skyline, but by how its most vulnerable are doing. And there’s no one more vulnerable than a child separated from their family.
Last month, we hosted a launch event with 175 people to announce this critical work. Since then, the faith community has stepped up mightily to get involved. Two churches have already connected us to 90 members who are all praying through their next steps. This is just the beginning.
So, as you imagine a city where every child rests in a safe, loving home, will you accept my loving challenge? Consider doing for one child what you wish you could do for every child.
Check out our Unity in Action page and click Get Involved to activate your faith today.
