[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                  HONORING NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOHN LEWIS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 28, 2020

  Mr. LEWIS. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of National Foster Care 
Month.
  For more than thirty years, the month of May has given voice to the 
unique, often complicated needs and situations of young people in our 
nation's foster care system. Sadly, too many of our young people are at 
risk of being left out and left behind. The pandemic only exacerbated 
the neglect and abuse of young people of all races, ages, and 
backgrounds in Georgia and across our country.
  For these reasons, it is important that, during National Foster Care 
Month, we recognize the nearly half million children who are currently 
in our nation's child welfare system. Madam Speaker, they must know 
that, despite all that is happening in our nation and around the world, 
I along with many other Members of Congress, mentors, volunteers, 
friends, and extended families love and value each and every young 
person in foster care.
  We must recommit to doing all we can to maximize their capacity and 
reaffirm our belief in their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Foster 
youth must trust and know that, on the darkest of days, we are always 
in their corner, and they are always in our hearts and thoughts.
  We must each do our part to ensure that every young person and 
aspiring adoptive and foster parent is able to fulfill their dreams of 
a stable, loving family. Many adults want to open their homes and their 
hearts, but they face barriers because the system says that they 
practice the wrong religion, love the wrong person, or are not married. 
Many children enter the system because of similar discrimination, and 
some experience it while in public care.
  For these reasons, I am proud to sponsor the bipartisan Every Child 
Deserves a Family Act to end discrimination in our child welfare system 
and expand every opportunity for a safe, forever family. I will 
continue working with my colleagues to pass this critical legislation 
and provide much-needed protections for children and adults in the 
child welfare system.
  Inspired by the experiences of many former foster youth in Metro 
Atlanta, I am deeply concerned about the more than 20,000 youth who age 
out of the foster care system every year. Government authorities share 
a unique and distinct responsibility to support those youth who 
transition from foster care to independent living. Far too often, these 
young adults go on to receive less education, hold fewer jobs, 
experience more homelessness and housing instability, and often 
experience imprisonment at higher rates than their peers who did not 
experience foster care.
  Federal, state, and local government have a moral duty to do all we 
can to protect and assist young people during and after their 
transition from foster care. The current coronavirus pandemic exposed 
the difficulties that many of foster youth face in navigating 
adolescence and adulthood with limited support. Government programs and 
authorities are often their only available resource, and we must do all 
we can to help restore hope and opportunities to young people and 
address the real, critical disparities they face prior to, during, and 
beyond this pandemic. I plan to introduce a comprehensive legislative 
package soon to do just that.
  During this National Foster Care Month, may we all be rededicated to 
the task of lifting up the young people entrusted to our nation's care 
while preparing and enabling them to succeed.

                          ____________________