Whose Child Is This? When Parents Disappear, What Happens to the Children?

When children are abandoned by death, divorce, dissertation or disasters, social service organizations explore the options that are available for their permanent care. The first option is restoring the family by counseling and resource development
and if that is not possible, the available of other family members is investigated. If that is not possible, then the social workers study the adoption applicants they have to find a suitable family. This may take some time, so the children will be placed in the care of trained, caring foster parents pending their adoption. The options which are opened to abandoned children are foster care, adoption, guardianship and other custom-fit solutions. In recent years, adoption organizations have developed creative methods of recruiting adoptive and foster parents for handicapped, minority children, and adolescents. These methods are described in details. The motto for those who work with abandoned children is "No child is left behind."

Dr. Baker is a Missouri native with graduate degrees in Christian Ministry and Social Work. He was also awarded an Honorary Degree , Doctor of Human Services, by the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ. His experience includes ten years in pastoral ministry and twenty years in work with troubled children and families. He had membership and was president of several local, state and national child-care agencies. Baker served on several Arizona State Legislative Committees to develop standards for treating children. He served for two years as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Arizona State University. For the last fifteen years of his career, he was president of Arizona Baptist Children's Services and Family Ministry. Dr. Baker is author of four books and currently a fifth book is in the publication process.