The Los Angeles Times ran a smear piece on orphanages, way back when. There were so many letters refuting this, that they had to publish them. An orphanage isn't exactly fun, but they were safe and functional, unlike many foster homes these days. Most of the orphanages were run by churches and charities.
I wish I was up to researching exactly why orphanages were closed down in favor of this present system.
The state muscled them aside. As soon as government gets involved in welfarism, charities start to have money problems and fade away. They can't compete. People say to themselves, "If the government is going to do this, that takes care of it and we don't need to burden ourselves with this any more. We pay taxes for it."
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, this is a POWERFUL reason never to let the state get involved in charity work (and that's what it is). Private charities almost always have the goal -- and a strong dollar incentive to remind them -- of getting their clients off charity and back on their feet. The state has impelling reasons to make the poor and the infirm dependent and keep them on welfare, which increases its own power and wealth. Private charities are fueled by love of God. State welfarism is driven by bureaucratic aggression.
And that is the morning's sermonette :-)