We have all seen the news and heard the stories – tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors are filtering through Mexico and crossing our southern borders. By the time they reach U.S. soil, many have been abandoned, abused, and exploited. They are children – not adults who have made informed choices to enter the U.S. illegally. They are children, and everything we stand for as a country calls out for us to protect them. We don't turn our backs on children. Compassion? Absolutely. But it must...

Some folks are not going to like this post—but these things have to be said. Residential care works. Not for every child, not in every situation, and certainly not when it is no more than the warehousing of children. But, done right, it works. For kids who have been on the streets, for kids who have been trafficked, for kids whose years of being abused, abandoned, or exploited have destroyed their ability to accept love and build relationships, it works. But there is a cottage...

Eventually, eventually, the story gets okay, but it has a lot of twists and turns to get there—and along the way an important lesson about thoughtful care for mortal-risk children. I’ll also introduce you to a debate that impacts the lives of millions of children. Jaime was a child of the streets. Abandoned by a prostitute mother, he spent his days in begging and thievery—and his nights under an overpass, a piece of cardboard his street mattress. Eventually sent to a shelter, he was adopted for the...