III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 280 

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 policies to improve the lives of children 

in the foster care system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. KAINE, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. PETERS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

CASEY, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. WARNER, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 

MANCHIN, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. WARNOCK, and Mr. 

YOUNG) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

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 policies to improve the lives of children in 

the foster care system. 

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 


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(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 

home; 

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 there are approximately 391,100 children living in 

foster care in the United States; 

Whereas there were approximately 206,800 youths that entered the foster care system in 2021 in the United 

States, while more than 113,500 youths were awaiting 

adoption at the end of 2021; 

Whereas almost 74,000 children entered foster care in 2021 

due to parental drug abuse; 

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 are the front-line caregivers for children who cannot safely remain with their biological parents, and foster parents provide physical care, emotional 

support, and 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 non-relatives— 

(1) have more stability, including fewer changes in 

placements; 


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(2) have more positive perceptions of their placements; 

(3) are more likely to be placed with their siblings; 

and 

(4) demonstrate fewer behavioral problems; 

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

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

Whereas more than 19,000 youths aged out of foster care in 

2021 without a legal permanent connection to an adult 

or family; 

Whereas youth 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 foster care is intended to be a temporary placement, 

but children remain in the foster care system for an average of 21 months; 

Whereas 35 percent of children in foster care experience more 

than 2 placements while in care, which often leads to disruption of routines and the need to change schools and 

move away from siblings, extended families, and familiar 

surroundings; 

Whereas youth in foster care are much more likely to face 

educational instability with a study showing that 75 percent of foster youth experienced an unscheduled school 

change during a school year, compared to 21 percent of 

youth not in foster care; 


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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 30 percent of children in foster care are taking not 

less than 1 anti-psychotic medication, and 34 percent of 

those children are not receiving adequate treatment planning or medication monitoring; 

Whereas, due to heavy caseloads and limited resources, the 

average annual turnover rate is between 14 percent and 

22 percent for child welfare workers; 

Whereas States, localities, and communities should be encouraged to invest resources in preventative and reunification 

services and post-permanency programs to ensure that 

more children and older youth 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 and family 

reunification services to help more families stay together 

and ensure more children are in safe, loving, and permanent homes; 

Whereas Federal legislation during the past 3 decades, including the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 

1980 (Public Law 96–272; 94 Stat. 500), the Adoption 

and Safe Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 

Stat. 2115), the Fostering Connections to Success and 

Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–351; 

122 Stat. 3949), the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112–34; 125 Stat. 


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369), and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (Public Law 113–183; 128 Stat. 

1919) provided new investments and services to improve 

the outcomes of children in the foster care system; 

Whereas May 2023 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, advocacy community, and mentors for their dedication, accomplishments, and positive 

impact they have 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the designation of May 2023 as 

3 National Foster Care Month; 

4 (2) recognizes National Foster Care Month as 

5 an opportunity to raise awareness about the chal6 lenges that children face in the foster care system; 

7 (3) encourages Congress to implement policies 

8 to improve the lives of children in the foster care 

9 system; 

10 (4) acknowledges the unique needs of children 

11 in the foster care system; 

12 (5) recognizes foster youth throughout the 

13 United States for their ongoing tenacity, courage, 

14 and resilience while facing life challenges; 


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1 (6) acknowledges the exceptional alumni of the 

2 foster care system who serve as advocates and role 

3 models for youth who remain in care; 

4 (7) honors the commitment and dedication of 

5 the individuals who work tirelessly to provide assist6 ance and services to children in the foster care sys7 tem; 

8 (8) supports the designation of May 31, 2023, 

9 as National Foster Parent Appreciation Day; 

10 (9) recognizes National Foster Parent Appre11 ciation Day as an opportunity to recognize the ef12 forts of foster parents to provide safe and loving 

13 care for children in need and raise awareness about 

14 the increasing need for foster parents to serve in 

15 their communities; and 

16 (10) reaffirms the need to continue working to 

17 improve the outcomes of all children in the foster 

18 care system through parts B and E of title IV of the 

19 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and 

20 other programs designed to— 

21 (A) support vulnerable families; 

22 (B) invest in prevention and reunification 

23 services; 

24 (C) promote adoption in cases where reuni25 fication is not in the best interests of the child; 


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1 (D) adequately serve those children 

2 brought into the foster care system; and 

3 (E) facilitate the successful transition into 

4 adulthood for youth that ‘‘age out’’ of the foster 

5 care system. 

Æ 


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