I first learned about the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) program after my daughter became a foster parent. Through our experience with DSS, I saw firsthand the critical need for every child to have a voice in the court system, and I realized our community was just as short on GALs as it was on foster parents.
Soon after becoming engaged in the world of foster care, I also recognized a hole in our community that the church was leaving unaddressed.
In 2020, my wife and I launched a ministry at our church to support local foster families. We quickly saw the impact a small group of volunteers could make.
I connected with Fostering the Family in 2022, after bonding with Susie Boyle, Director of Outreach and Partnerships, as a fellow Guardian ad Litem. Before long, my wife and I had a conversation with Kim Trainer, Founder and CEO, and in January 2023 we attended the Fostering the Family Prayer Retreat.
When we arrived, I realized my wife and I were not alone in our desire to support foster families and help solve the foster care crisis. Jokingly, I said to the group, “There’s more of you crazy people?” Our staff still laughs about this and shares the story to this day.
In 2023 and 2024, I served as a volunteer with Fostering the Family behind the scenes, where I connected with other local congregations to launch ministries in support of foster, adoptive, and kinship families.
In January 2025, when I retired from my long-time career, God opened a door for me to join the Fostering the Family staff as their Director of Church and Community Engagement and Aiken-Edgefield Regional Manager.
In the region I manage alone, a network of 14 local churches across multiple denominations have joined together to answer God’s call.
As we have grown, so has our outreach, expanding from wraparound support to also include foster closets and bed ministries. Through it all, I have seen God move in powerful ways across both large and small churches alike. Christians from multiple denominations are working together to do what God has called them to do.
As a GAL, I frequently visit homes of families who are simply struggling to get by. What many people don’t realize is that 60% of foster care cases could actually be prevented. With South Carolina currently short 1,300 foster families, focusing on prevention could dramatically reduce the number of children entering the DSS system and help solve the foster care crisis.
To help address this, Fostering The Family launched a Tangible Needs Portal in 2024, connecting DSS and GAL families directly to church resources.
For 2026, FTF set a goal to assist 500 children in family preservation. The Church stepped up, and as of October, God has provided tangible needs for over 800 children, delivering more than 8,000 donated items and saving these families over $120,000 in costs.
The deeper we get into the DSS system, the more opportunities we discover to serve and show God’s love to our neighbors. For instance, 3% of children in our local counties do not have a bed to sleep on. In Aiken County alone, that represents 1,000 children. This crucial need led us to start a Bibles & Beds ministry, and we are now on track to deliver 150 beds per year. With every delivery, we provide a Bible, pray with the family, and build a lasting relationship to better understand their challenges.
If I could give just one piece of advice to any church, it would be this: doing nothing is not an option. Find your “something,” and connect with the other churches in your community to get it done.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10
Scott Bowser
Director of Church and Community Engagement
Aiken-Edgefield Regional Manager
In the voice of Susie Boyle, Director of Outreach and Partnerships, “Scott is a bright light in our ministry, our one male—with a great sense of humor—surrounded by females in a women-dominated ministry. We call him the Santa Claus of South Carolina’s tangible needs. He has a huge heart and an awesome business-oriented mind. We adore ourselves some Scott Bowser.”
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