Why Telos
Helping Every Orphan Find a Good Home
Telos exists in response to a specific calling from God: help every orphan find a good home through the wise use of technology and the global Body of Christ.
The tools have changed over the years. The calling has not.
About Telos — Our Story
How Telos Began
Telos Orphan Partners began with a calling.
In 2008, God placed the needs of orphaned and vulnerable children on founder Scott T. Rauth’s heart. What began as a personal calling grew through years of involvement with orphan-care ministries and the people working every day to care for vulnerable children and families.
Over time, Scott saw something encouraging—and frustrating. Dedicated ministries are doing extraordinary work around the world. Experienced orphan-care organizations, researchers, practitioners, and networks have also developed valuable knowledge about what helps children thrive.
But the people who need that knowledge do not always have an easy way to find it, understand it, or put it into practice. That gap became part of the vision for Telos.
Along the way, Telos has
- Built practical technology tools for orphan-care ministries
- Supported Child Status Index technology work
- Developed a mobile application and community-metrics dashboard through significant volunteer effort
- Participated in community-learning and mapping work
- Served at CAFO
- Learned from ministry leaders and practitioners
From calling to Compass
The Orphan Care Compass grew from that vision.
Telos exists to help strengthen the organizations and people already serving orphaned and vulnerable children—not to replace them. We believe technology can make trusted knowledge more accessible, help ministries learn from one another, and connect leaders with practical resources that might otherwise be difficult to find.
OCC brings together trusted orphan-care knowledge and publicly available information about an individual ministry to help identify practical opportunities for strengthening its work. The goal is not to grade ministries or tell local leaders how to do their jobs.
Help good people doing important work find useful knowledge and take the next achievable step toward better outcomes for children and families.
Our ultimate hope remains the same calling that started the journey: helping every orphan find a good home through the global Body of Christ, with technology serving the mission.
Shared across the community
We believe many of the answers already exist.
No one organization has all the knowledge needed to care well for vulnerable children. But across the Body of Christ and the broader orphan-care community, there is enormous experience.
Telos wants to help that wisdom travel.
- Social workers who know what helps families remain together
- Ministries that have learned how to support foster families
- Churches that have learned how to serve without creating dependence
- Practitioners who understand reintegration
- Organizations helping young people transition successfully into adulthood
- Researchers studying child and family outcomes
- Donors who know what builds confidence
- Local leaders who understand realities outsiders may never see
Our role
Technology will not solve orphan care.
Our role is to strengthen those already serving children and families by using technology to make practical knowledge and help easier to discover and apply.
Telos is not a direct-care ministry.
Telos is not a grant-making organization.
Telos is not a ministry-rating system.
Technology is not the mission.
Our posture
Listen carefully. Learn humbly. Keep improving.
- Listen before advising
- Recognize what is already working
- Respect local knowledge
- Distinguish what we can observe from what we actually know
- Protect the dignity and safety of children
- Draw from credible sources and experienced practitioners
- Learn from the ministries using OCC
- Keep improving
The destination
The destination is not better technology.
It is more children growing up in safe, loving homes and more caregivers equipped to serve them well.