National Foster Care Month, 2024, 36659-36660 [2024-09818]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 87 (Friday, May 3, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 36659-36660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09818]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 87 / Friday, May 3, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 36659]]


                Proclamation 10738 of April 30, 2024

                
National Foster Care Month, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The nearly 370,000 children in foster care deserve to 
                grow up in safe and loving homes that help them reach 
                their full potential. During National Foster Care 
                Month, we share our gratitude for the foster parents 
                who show foster youth unconditional love and the 
                biological parents who work hard to reunite with their 
                children despite difficult circumstances. We thank all 
                the dedicated staff and volunteers who help foster 
                youth find temporary and permanent homes. We commend 
                the immeasurable courage of kids in foster care, who 
                truly represent the best of our American spirit.

                No young person should have to face the challenges that 
                foster youth endure. The trauma they experience, 
                including being separated from their biological 
                families at a young age, can leave lasting emotional, 
                mental, and physical scars that take a toll on their 
                adult lives. Too often, it is children of color who 
                bear the brunt of this toll: One in nine Black children 
                and one in seven Native American children have been in 
                foster care. Our Nation has a moral responsibility to 
                ensure all our children are taken care of, especially 
                our foster youth.

                That begins with giving families the support and 
                resources they need to provide for their children. The 
                Child Tax Credit I championed during the pandemic cut 
                taxes for millions and cut child poverty in half--the 
                lowest rate ever. It gave families some breathing room, 
                making sure they had the funds they needed to provide 
                for their children. Ensuring families have access to 
                support and resources is so important, especially 
                because poverty can lead to unnecessary interventions 
                that remove children from their homes. My 
                Administration has also invested hundreds of millions 
                of dollars in expanding and improving neglect 
                prevention and child protective services.

                At the same time, we are prioritizing helping the 
                children and youth already in the foster care system 
                find supportive and caring temporary and permanent 
                homes. Relative and kinship caregivers take care of 
                one-third of all children in the foster care system. 
                That is why I have called to make adoption and legal 
                guardianship more affordable for those caregivers by 
                making the adoption tax credit fully refundable and 
                extending it to legal guardians--including 
                grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives. For 
                biological parents who want to safely reunite with 
                their children, we are working to ensure that they have 
                access to legal representation, which is critical for 
                navigating the child welfare system.

                To ensure every capable, loving family has the 
                opportunity to foster, I signed an Executive Order that 
                removed barriers making it harder for LGBTQI+ families 
                to foster and adopt. We are also making sure that the 
                30 percent of all foster youth who identify as LGBTQI+ 
                are placed in environments that love and support them 
                for who they are.

                There is still so much to do to ensure our foster youth 
                are set up for success in their adult lives. That is 
                why I proposed providing $9 billion to establish a 
                housing voucher program for all 20,000 youths aging out 
                of foster care every year, giving them the security to 
                begin adulthood. I have also called for over $2 billion 
                to help youth aging out of foster care

[[Page 36660]]

                find a job, enroll in and afford higher education, 
                obtain basic necessities, and access preventative 
                health care.

                Throughout my life, I have had the honor of meeting 
                incredible young people who grew up in foster care with 
                wonderful foster parents, who loved them 
                unconditionally. This month, we affirm to foster youth 
                across America that we have their backs, and we 
                recommit to supporting both foster and biological 
                parents in creating safe and loving homes.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2024 as 
                National Foster Care Month. I call upon all Americans 
                to observe this month by reaching out in their 
                neighborhoods and communities to the children and youth 
                in foster care and their families, to those at risk of 
                entering foster care, and to kin families and other 
                caregivers.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-09818
Filed 5-2-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P