Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 87 / Thursday, May 5, 2022 / Presidential Documents 26657 

Proclamation 10379 of April 29, 2022 

National Foster Care Month, 2022 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Every May, we renew our commitment to ensuring that all youth in foster 

care have the love, support, and resources they need to thrive. We also 

celebrate the families who provide safe and loving homes for our Nation’s 

foster children. We share our appreciation for the dedicated volunteers and 

professionals who help our Nation’s foster youth find permanent homes 

and connect with their biological families when appropriate—many of whom 

are working hard to safely reunite with their children. 

Today, nearly a third of children in foster care are being raised by kin— 

many of whom are grandparents. This helps children retain family bonds 

and a sense of cultural identity, which are so important to a child’s resilience 

and well-being. As children and families of color are disproportionately 

overrepresented in foster care, it is essential that we invest in culturally 

supportive services to nurture all children and families who are impacted 

by the child welfare system. 

The COVID–19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on young people 

in foster care. That is why my Administration implemented the Supporting 

Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act—helping foster youth 

aging out of the system access services to stay in school, participate in 

job training programs, pay rent and other bills, and transition to adulthood. 

My Administration also funded grants that help agencies connect kinship 

caregivers and foster parents to programs and services for children in their 

care and we continue to promote best practices that identify and notify 

relatives when a child has been placed into foster care. 

This month, we also recognize the history of injustice in America’s foster 

care system—particularly against Black and Native Americans. Relative to 

their white peers, Black and Native American children stay in foster care 

longer and are less likely to be adopted or reunited with their birth parents. 

Furthermore, foster care systems do not provide children with disabilities 

or LGBTQI+ youth with the individualized support, resources, and safety 

measures they need and deserve. My Administration stands with transgender 

youth in foster care and with all families that love and care for their 

children. 

To improve our foster care system, I have proposed a significant funding 

increase and a package of reforms to expand prevention services so more 

children can remain safely in their own homes. For children who need 

to be placed into foster care, my proposal provides States with incentives 

to place more children with relatives or adults with whom they are emotionally bonded, when appropriate. It will also increase resources for youth 

who are aging out of foster care. In addition, I have called for competitive 

grants for States to advance racial equity, expand prevention services, and 

improve education outcomes in our child welfare system. My proposal would 

also help more low- and moderate-income families afford the costs of adoption and legal guardianship of children who would otherwise be in foster 

care. 

National Foster Care Month is an opportunity for us to celebrate foster 

youth and the people who provide them with love and support. It is our 


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26658 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 87 / Thursday, May 5, 2022 / Presidential Documents 

duty to help vulnerable children, and child welfare professionals and the 

families they serve. Through education, volunteering, and partnerships, we 

can strengthen our communities and ensure that youth in foster care have 

the support they need for a future they deserve. 

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 2022 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 twenty-ninth 

day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

forty-sixth. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09759 

Filed 5–4–22; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F2–P 


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