WASHINGTON —U.S. Senators Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, co-chairs of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, have introduced Senate Resolution 442, recognizing May 2014 as National Foster Care Month.
In honor of foster care youth and in support of the resolution, Landrieu and Grassley made floor statements, describing the challenges foster youth face and encouraging their colleagues to improve the foster care system.
“I have come to the floor today, alongside my esteemed colleague and Co-chair on the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, to recognize the foster parents, social workers, and advocates from my home state of Louisiana and around the country that play an essential role in the lives of children in foster care,” said Sen. Landrieu. “Our foster care system should be temporary—it’s a temporary place where children should go to be protected and nurtured until they can be returned to their birth family, be placed with extended family, or be connected with an adoptive parent or parents. Unfortunately, all too often this is not how it happens. We cannot rest until our federal and state governments are 100 percent successful at connecting these children – who have been placed under the government’s care due to no fault of their own—with permanent, safe, and loving families.”
“The resolution recognizes foster youth for their courage and resilience as they move through their personal trials and challenges,” Sen. Grassley said. “We also applaud the youth who have moved on from the foster care system but remain active as advocates and role models for those who remain in the system. The resolution reaffirms the need to continue to improve the outcomes for all children in the foster care system. Every child deserves the stability and certainty that a loving, permanent home and family can provide.”
Sens. Landrieu and Grassley described the significant number of children in the foster care system. Across the country, about 400,000 children are currently in foster care. Every day, nearly 691 new children enter the foster system because of abuse or neglect. More than 79,000 children will stay in foster care for more than three years. Of those, more than 23,400 will “age out” of foster care without ever finding an adoptive family or a permanent place to call home.
Several members of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth are co-sponsoring the resolution: Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Robert Casey, D-Pa., Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; John Hoeven, R-N.D.; James Inhofe R-Okla.; Mike Johanns, R-Neb.; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Carl Levin, D-Mich. and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
The text of the resolution is available here. The text of Grassley’s statement is available here.
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