Presidential Document2024-09818
National Foster Care Month, 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 3, 2024
Signed
April 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 87 (Friday, May 3, 2024)</title>
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[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 [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-09818
Filed 5-2-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 3, 2024.
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