Age at first sponsorship Cancel Title is required

Is there a maximum age limit for a child  to begin sponsorship? What  if they are a sibling of the child you are sponsoring?

I have sponsored two older children. They were 17 and 18 when I started sponsoring them. They had each been sponsored before. I went on to send one of them to college.
I am not sure if that is what you are asking or not. :)

I've heard before that kids over 10 years old are not typically enrolled for sponsorship for the first time, although kids of all ages can be requested to be enrolled if a sponsor asks to sponsor them. So, my understanding is that kids over 10 have usually been in the program since before they were 10 and probably had at least 1 prior sponsor.

If you are asking for a child to be enrolled for the first time (like a sibling), the child has to be under 16 years of age.  I inquired about Katherine's oldest eligible sibling and her sister, Lesvia, had just turned 16, which was how I ended up sponsoring Edy instead; however, that turned out to be just the child in the family who most needed the help! :-)

As far as the oldest age where CI will enroll them without a sponsor committing to sponsor them, I'm not sure.

Thank you all for the information. You have been a big help to me.

Just to clarify a few points...children must be between the ages of 2-10 to be enrolled in our program.  This includes siblings of currently sponsored children.  

Anytime a non-sponsored sibling is requested to be enrolled, we typically will push it up to the age of 12, but there are very few instances in which we ask the SOA if they will enroll a sibling over the age of 12.  If we do, it's definitely the exception rather than the norm. 

This is generally because after the age of 12 the youth no longer have to have annual med and dental checks, may no longer be in school and don't want to go back and be in a class with younger kids, have jobs or other responsibilities that would keep them from participating in the programs offered at the SOA.  Which means they would not be fully benefiting from the program.

And remember, there is no guarantee that a sibling will be enrolled just because we send a memo and ask. Sometimes the staff or family declines to enroll the sibling. 

When you see children over the age of 12 on the web, you can be assured that they have been in the program for
many years. 

Thanks for clarifying, Debbie!  I had no idea that Edy had been an exception and was just told that Lesvia was too old to be enrolled.  It makes sense given his circumstances and willingness to return to school that the staff did enroll him.  I'll plan on snatching up younger siblings before they're 10 from now on! :-)

Thank you for the information. 

When do children stop receiving aid? I had picked a 17 year old who had been in the list over 2 years for my third child to sponsor not sure if a third child was affordable for me. Its been fine and am not regretting it but it raised the question for when he ages out. He is is 18 now so I have been sponsoring him for 1.5 years. Normally I pick the youngest aged kids so I am in their life that much longer but I felt so bad for an older boy who had been waiting so long. I think he may have had a sponsor once before. I may be picking out a new third child when he does age out but I don't know when that is. Thank in advance! 

When you sponsored kids that old when did they age out? I posted a longer post down below explaining my reason but I thought maybe you knew first hand. 

Don't know if this will help you but all kids age out at 19 from what I understand. So a few months after they turn 19 you will get the letter about them graduating the program.