This Alliance magazine feature, examines how global funding systems have unintentionally sustained institutional care for children by financially incentivizing orphanages, even though most children in these settings are not orphans and have living family members. It argues that this “orphanage economy” is driven by well-meaning donors, NGOs, and service providers who rely on institutional care models that can separate children from families rather than strengthening family-based alternatives. The article draws on care reform evidence and lived experience to show how this system can perpetuate unnecessary institutionalization and calls for a fundamental shift in philanthropy and child protection—redirecting resources toward family strengthening, kinship care, and community-based solutions that keep children safely within families.