[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8494]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, May is National Foster Care Month. I 
thank my colleagues for unanimously supporting the resolution 
recognizing May as National Foster Care Month.
  National Foster Care Month has been recognized for over 20 years as a 
time we all celebrate the voices of foster youth and bring awareness to 
the challenges these young people face. During this month, 
organizations in Iowa--and, for that matter, all across the country--
have been working to support and to recognize the young people who are 
in foster care.
  Nationally, there are over 425,000 children in foster care. In Iowa 
alone, almost 4,000 kids entered foster care in 2015, the last year for 
statistics. I salute all of those who work tirelessly to support these 
children. This includes a lot of different groups but particularly 
foster parents, who open their hearts and homes to children who need 
this vital support. The group also includes social workers, advocates, 
and alumni of the foster care system who, as young people, have gone 
through a lot. They are there to inform lawmakers and the public, and 
they are there to fight to secure better outcomes for kids in care.
  As stated in our resolution, Congress must continue to work toward 
real solutions for these children, who often face trauma, abuse, and 
neglect, both before and after they are removed from their parents' 
care. We must work to ensure that all children, no matter their 
circumstances, have a permanent, loving home and consistent, caring 
adults in their lives.
  With legislation such as the Fostering Connections Act, passed in 
2008, and the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act, 
passed in 2011, we have made some progress. These laws provided new 
investments and new services to improve the outcomes for children in 
the foster care system.
  Even after all that, our work is not done. Over 20,000 young people 
aged out of the foster care system in 2015, with no legal permanent 
connection to any family. This impacts their ability to pursue higher 
education, to find employment and stable housing, and, most 
importantly, to prepare for the future.
  While in care, children experience an average of three different 
placements; 65 percent of the kids in foster care change schools seven 
or more times. We see a great amount of instability and resulting 
insecurity when this is what happens in the life of somebody in foster 
care. This constant uncertainty compounds the trauma of neglect and of 
abuse and makes it hard for these kids to make connections to their 
communities.
  Through my work in the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, I have had the 
opportunity to hear firsthand what these young people in foster care 
need. They need love, they need support, they need safety and 
permanency, and they need a family. Those last two are the first words 
I ever heard from kids in foster care when I first took time 25 years 
ago to listen to some of them. They had been shunted from one home to 
another home over a period of time. They said: We would like to have a 
mom and dad; we would like to have a home. That is what this movement 
is all about.
  Moving forward, Congress must continue to work to find better 
solutions and secure better outcomes for our young people in foster 
care.
  Once again, I thank all of my colleagues for supporting this 
resolution. It is important that this month--and, for that matter, all 
year long--we continue to support the goals of National Foster Care 
Month.

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