Recognizing National Foster Care Month as an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges of children in the foster care system and encouraging Congress to implement policy to improve the lives of children in, or at risk of entering, the foster care system.

Key Points

• This resolution officially names May as National Foster Care Month to bring attention to the 369,000 children currently in the system and the workers who support them.
• It highlights the struggles of the 20,000 young people who leave foster care every year without a permanent family, noting that 20 percent of them become homeless immediately.
• The measure points out that foster children often face unstable lives, including changing schools an average of seven times and staying in the system for nearly two years on average.
• Lawmakers are calling for more support for relatives who take in children and better services to help families stay together so fewer children have to enter the system in the first place.
• The resolution also recognizes the high stress on social workers, noting that many positions remain empty and the average worker only stays on the job for three years.

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