National Foster Care Month celebrates families, highlights need for support

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to acknowledge all those who play a role in improving the lives of children and youth in foster care.

As part of this annual recognition, the federal Children’s Bureau offers the National Foster Care Month website full of information, uplifting stories and resources for youth, parents, caregivers, child welfare professionals, tribes and communities.

This year, the theme for National Foster Care Month is “Honoring, Uniting, and Celebrating Families,” emphasizing the importance of reunifying families. The site provides resources about supporting youth, parents, foster families, kinship caregivers, professionals and the community, offering information on best practices and strategies for family reunification.

National Foster Care Month was established in May 1988 by President Ronald Reagan’s proclamation. It highlights the need to support the 400,000 children and youth in foster care and help them find permanent families and connections. The Children’s Bureau partners with many organizations, including Casey Family Programs, on this annual effort.

Casey Family Programs is helping to raise awareness around National Foster Care Month and our work to safely reduce the need for foster care by 50 percent by 2020. We also are supporting the work of FosterMore.org, a coalition of entertainment industry, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations working to raise awareness about children in foster care and encourage broader community support to improve their educational outcomes.

Here are a few things you can do to recognize National Foster Care Month:

• Share the Children’s Bureau online resources. These tools help increase awareness of foster care and opportunities to improve outcomes for children and their families.
• Visit FosterMore.org and share the site with others. It offers compelling videos and stories, important information, and ways for you to get engaged in your own communities as a mentor, foster parent or by just learning more.