I attended the 2018 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast this morning. In its 14th year, it features a few notable speakers each year and is modeled to some degree after the National Prayer Breakfast. An incredibly well-run breakfast that ended exactly one minute before it was scheduled to conclude, it was tough to be disappointed. Held at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Washington, across the street from Cato Institute. Speakers this year: Speaker Paul Ryan, Ambassador Sam Brownback, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City.

Afterwards I stopped in for the first session of National Review Institute’s Forum on Foster Care, led by Kathryn Jean Lopez:

Over the past four years there has been a spike in the number of children entering in to foster care. The need for partnership and a renewed sense of urgency is critical – particularly when it comes to faith-based communities. In order to shine a light on these needs, National Review Institute will assemble leaders in faith, government, and policy communities to raise awareness, identify some of the key challenges, establish new relationships, and highlight resources and solutions.

What I heard was powerful and personal witness from a panel featuring Charmaine Yoest, Randy Hicks, Natalie Goodnow, and Lisa Ann Wheeler. Their panel name was “The Urgency of Faith Based Leadership in Foster Care and Adoption,” but in practice it was a compelling set of testimonies on the experiences and benefits of fostering.

After that session I had to step out and get to Union Station to get back to Philadelphia.