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National Foster Care Month is observed in the United States during the month of May every year. [1] 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. [2] However, the main focus and theme changes with every passing year. For example, in 2019, the theme for National Foster Care Month was "Foster Care as a Support to Families, not a Substitute for Parents". [3] The main focus is focus on promoting family well-being with resources that highlight community involvement, collaborative relationships, and targeted support services as key factors in supporting family preservation and keeping families healthy, together, and strong.
As of 2018, it is estimated that over 440,000 children are in foster care. [4]
Some of these children are not 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. [5] This means that the youth over the age of eighteen have no familial support, resources, or even job or life skills. [6] 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. [7]
When President Reagan issued the first presidential proclamation that established May as National Foster Care Month.
Organized by the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, [8] the annual National Foster Youth Shadow Day draws more than 60 current and former foster youth to the nation’s capital. The young people have meetings at the White House with members of the administration and spend a day shadowing their member of Congress in the Capitol to tell their stories. [9]
In 2014, television personality Dr. Phil McGraw testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on National Foster Youth Shadow Day about the problem of foster youth being over-medicated with psychotropic drugs. [10]
National Foster Care Month is supported and maintained by the Children's Bureau, [11] Children Welfare Information Gateway, [12] and their partners. In addition, the National Resource for Permanency and Family Connections, [13] [14] the National Foster Youth Institute, [15] the Casey Family Programs, [16] Foster Club, [17] and the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. [8]
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member approved by the state. The placement of a "foster child" is normally arranged through the government or a social service agency. The institution, group home, or foster parent is compensated for expenses unless with a family member.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) is a charitable foundation focused on improving the well-being of American children and youth.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and families. These programs include assistance with welfare, child support enforcement, adoption assistance, foster care, child care, and child abuse. The agency employs approximately 1,700 staff, including 1,200 federal employees and 500 contractors, where 60% are based in Washington, DC, with the remaining in regional offices located in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City (Missouri), Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The United States Children's Bureau is a federal agency founded in 1912, organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Today, the bureau's operations involve improving child abuse prevention, foster care, and adoption. Historically, its work was much broader, as shown by the 1912 act which created and funded it:
The said bureau shall investigate and report to [the Department of Commerce and Labor] upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth-rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting children in the several states and territories.
In the United States, adoption is the process of creating a legal parent–child relationship between a child and a parent who was not automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.
Boys & Girls Aid is a non-profit organization that provides services to children in crisis in the state of Oregon, United States.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1997, after having been approved by the United States Congress earlier in the month.
Child protective services (CPS) is the name of an agency responsible for providing child protection, which includes responding to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some countries and US states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as department of children and family services (DCFS). CPS is also sometimes known by the name of department of social services, though these terms more often have a broader meaning.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 aims to assist youth aging out of foster care in the United States in obtaining and maintaining independent living skills. Youth aging out of foster care, or transitioning out of the formal foster care system, are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. As youth age out of the foster care system at age 18, they are expected to become self-sufficient immediately, even though on average youth in the United States are not expected to reach self-sufficiency until age 26.
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that coordinates efforts for child welfare in the United States, and provides direct support to agencies that serve children and families. The organization's vision is "that every child will grow up in a safe, loving, and stable family," and its primary objective is to "Make Children a National Priority". The CWLA is run by professionals in the children's services field. As a national organization it lobbies for both child protection, and delivery of services to children. It is the oldest child welfare organization in the United States.
On National Adoption Day courts and communities in the United States come together to finalize thousands of adoption of children from foster care. More than 300 events are held each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in November, in all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to finalize the adoptions of children in foster care. In total, more than 40,000 children have been adopted from foster care on National Adoption Day.
David Lee Camp is a former American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2015. Camp represented Michigan's 4th congressional district since 1993, and previously served one term representing Michigan's 10th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, Camp was chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, serving from 2011 to 2015. In March 2014, he announced that he would not run for re-election.
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization "dedicated to raising awareness about the millions of children around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving families and to eliminating the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right to a family." CCAI was founded in 2001 by advocates of children in the U.S. and around the world in need of families. CCAI seeks to support Congress' Adoption Caucus, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, through educating and informing its members on adoption, foster care, and child welfare issues. Additionally, CCAI serves as a resource for Members of Congress and their staff through the offering of information, resources, and opportunities to engage in adoption and foster care programs year-round. This is done through congressional briefings, leadership training programs, educational trips, and other notable programs. The Institute's work is entirely funded by donations and gifts from organizations and individuals. Kate McLean currently serves as the Executive Director of CCAI.
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 was an Act of Congress in the United States signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 7, 2008. It was previously unanimously passed in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate. The law made numerous changes to the child welfare system, mostly to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, which covers federal payments to states for foster care and adoption assistance. According to child welfare experts and advocates, the law made the most significant federal improvements to the child welfare system in over a decade.
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward or a non-minor, typically aged 18–21, who volunteers for placement, is placed in a relative placement, a non-related extended family (NREFM) placement, a community family home, an institution, or a group home. Relative, NREFM, and community caregivers certified by the state are typically referred to as "foster parents," "kin caregivers," "resource parents," or other local terms. The placement of the child is usually arranged through state or county social services. The institution, group home, or caregiver is reimbursed for the expenses related to caring for the child. The state via the family court and child protection agency stand in loco parentis to the minor, making all legal decisions, while the caregiver is responsible for the day-to-day care of the minor. Even while their child is in Care, typically birth parents retain Education and Medical rights and the right to contact with their child unless parental rights are terminated by the Court.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway is the congressionally mandated and funded information service of the United States Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, United States Department of Health and Human Services. It was established in 2006 to replace the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse. The Child Welfare Information Gateway covers child-welfare topics, including family-centered practice, child abuse and neglect, abuse and neglect prevention, child protection, family preservation and support, foster care, achieving and maintaining permanency, adoption, management of child welfare agencies and related topics such as child and family assessment, laws and policies, statistics and coincident family issues. Its website links to sources of print and electronic publications, websites, databases and online learning tools on these topics.
David Meade is an American politician and Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing Kentucky's 80th House district since January 2013. His legislative district includes Garrard and Lincoln Counties as well as part of Pulaski County. Meade serves as Speaker pro tempore of the Kentucky House of Representatives, a constitutional office and the second-highest position in the 100-member legislative chamber.
The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act is a US bill that would address federal adoption incentives and would amend the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to demonstrate that the state agency has developed policies and procedures with respect to the children it is working, and which are (possibly) a victim of sex trafficking or a severe form of trafficking in persons. The bill furthermore requires states to implement the 2008 UIFSA version, which is required so the 2007 Hague Maintenance Convention can be ratified by the US.
Gerald P. Mallon is an American writer and social worker who focuses on LGBTQ+ family issues. He is currently the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and Former Associate Dean of Scholarship and Research at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York. He is also the director of the National Center for Child Welfare Excellence and an adoptive parent.
Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The family model and the shift care model.
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