It is always a bit of a relief to have some guidance and a direction when you are asked to give a keynote or a plenary address. I was asked once to give a commencement address at a university … to be but one of a few such speeches that day. After accepting the honor, I asked the dean, who had nominated me, ‘What should I talk about?’ He replied, ‘Talk about five minutes … and be seated.’ I did. Today, will talk but a bit longer, and hope that afterwards few of you will say, ‘I thought that man would never sit down.’

I also want to tell you what a pleasure it is to talk with an audience that is here because they want to be here … here by choice. The direction that I want to take us in thisbrief time is a look at how we can involve ourselves with children in care, with the overarching goal of reversing some of the negative impacts on their lives that have come along with them and into our foster homes.