Whereas National Foster Care Month was established more than 30 years ago to—

(1)

bring foster care issues to the forefront;

(2)

highlight the importance of permanency for every child; and

(3)

recognize the essential role that foster parents, social workers, and advocates have in the lives of children in foster care throughout the United States;

Whereas all children deserve a safe, loving, and permanent family;

Whereas the primary goal of the foster care system is to ensure the safety and well-being of children while working to provide a safe, loving, and permanent home for each child;

Whereas, in 2022, there were approximately 369,000 children officially living in foster care not counting those children whose physical custody has been shifted to caregivers outside of the foster care system;

Whereas approximately 197,000 children entered foster care in 2022, while 109,000 children were eligible and waiting for adoption at the end of 2022;

Whereas children of color are more likely to stay in the foster care system for longer periods of time and are less likely to be reunited with their biological families;

Whereas foster parents, including kin families, are the frontline caregivers for children who cannot safely remain with their biological parents and provide physical care, emotional support, education advocacy, and are the largest single source of families providing permanent homes, for children leaving foster care to adoption;

Whereas children in foster care who are placed with relatives, compared to children placed with nonrelatives, have more stability, including fewer changes in placements, have more positive perceptions of their placements, are more likely to be placed with their siblings, and demonstrate fewer behavioral problems;

Whereas some relative caregivers receive less financial assistance and support services than do foster caregivers;

Whereas recent studies show foster children enrolled in Medicaid were prescribed antipsychotic medications at nearly 4 times the rate of other children receiving Medicaid;

Whereas youth in foster care are much more likely to face educational instability, with 65 percent of former foster children experiencing at least 7 school changes while in care;

Whereas an increased emphasis on prevention and reunification services is necessary to reduce the number of children that enter or reenter the foster care system;

Whereas the effects of the COVID–19 pandemic have created additional challenges for youth and families in the child welfare system, including delays in permanency, economic hardships, and disruptions in education;

Whereas more than 20,000 youth age out of foster care annually without a legal permanent connection to an adult or family, with 20 percent of them becoming instantly homeless;

Whereas the number of youth who age out of foster care has steadily increased for the past decade;

Whereas foster care is intended to be a temporary placement, but children remain in the foster care system for an average of 19.6 months;

Whereas children in foster care experience an average of 3 different placements, which often leads to disruption of routines and the need to change schools and move away from siblings, extended families, and familiar surroundings;

Whereas children entering foster care often confront the widespread misperception that children in foster care are disruptive, unruly, and dangerous, even though placement in foster care is based on the actions of a parent or guardian, not the child;

Whereas children who age out of foster care lack the security or support of a biological or adoptive family and frequently struggle to secure affordable housing, obtain health insurance, pursue higher education, and acquire adequate employment;

Whereas, on average, 8.5 percent of the positions in child protection services remain vacant;

Whereas, due to heavy caseloads and limited resources, the average tenure for a worker in child protection services is just 3 years;

Whereas States, localities, and communities should be encouraged to invest resources in preventative and reunification services and postpermanency programs to ensure that more children in foster care are provided with safe, loving, and permanent placements;

Whereas, in 2018, Congress passed the Family First Prevention Services Act (Public Law 115–123; 132 Stat. 232), which provided new investments in prevention, early intervention, and family reunification services to help more families stay together, provided support for kinship (relative) caregivers, and provided improved and more flexible services to older youth aging out of foster care, to ensure that more children can be in safe, loving, and permanent homes;

Whereas Federal legislation over the past 3 decades, including the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law 96–272), the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89), the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–351), the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112–34), and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (Public Law 113–183), provided new investments and services to improve the outcomes of children in the foster care system;

Whereas May is an appropriate month to designate as National Foster Care Month to provide an opportunity to acknowledge the accomplishments of the child welfare workforce, foster parents, the advocacy community, and mentors for their dedication, accomplishments, and positive effects on the lives of children; and

Whereas much remains to be done to ensure that all children have a safe, loving, nurturing, and permanent family, regardless of age or special needs: Now, therefore, be it