National Foster Care Month

National Foster Care Month is observed in the United States during the month of May every year. It began with President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since 1988, National Foster Care Month continues to be recognized and celebrated.

The original focus was to give foster parents the recognition they deserved for opening their homes to foster children in need and caring for them. However, the main focus and theme changes with every passing year. For example, in 2012, the theme for National Foster Care Month was "Achieving well-being with children and youth in care." Some of the main focuses of National Foster Care Month include the encouragement of adopting children from the foster care system, appreciation of social workers and other professionals who work with foster children and families, and mentoring programs for foster children who have aged out of the system. During this month, there are volunteer opportunities and information meetings that take place across the country. The topics of those meetings include how to become a foster parent, how to support the local foster community, and how to adopt from foster care.

Currently, it's estimated that over 408,000 children are in foster care. Some of these children aren't eligible for adoption, but many of them are. Every year, over 30,000 children age out of the foster system without a chance at permanence, which means the foster children are reaching the age of eighteen, no longer wards of the state, and out on their own. This means that the youth over the age of eighteen have no familial support, resources, or even job or life skills. These facts have fueled the motivation behind National Foster Care Month.

Every year the current President of the United States issues a Presidential Proclamation specifically on National Foster Care Month.

When President Obama declared May 2015 to be National Foster Care Month, he included words never before included in a White House proclamation about adoption, stating in part, "With so many children waiting for loving homes, it is important to ensure all qualified caregivers have the opportunity to serve as foster or adoptive parents, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. That is why we are working to break down the barriers that exist and investing in efforts to recruit more qualified parents for children in foster care." Thus it appears he is the first president to explicitly say gender identity should not prevent anyone from adopting or becoming a foster parent.

Congress also recognizes National Foster Care Month as well. In 2015 Representative Karen Bass (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, introduced a resolution recognizing May as National Foster Care Month. The resolution stated that “an increased emphasis on prevention and reunification services is necessary to reduce the number of children that are forced to remain the foster care system” and called on “Congress to implement policy to improve the lives of the children in the foster care. system.”

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Wikipedia