[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8505--APR. 28, 2010

Proclamation 8505 of April 28, 2010
National Foster Care Month, 2010
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Nearly a half-million children and youth are in foster care in America,
all entering the system through no fault of their own. During National
Foster Care Month, we recognize the promise of children and youth in
foster care, as well as former foster youth. We also celebrate the
professionals and foster parents who demonstrate the depth and kindness
of the human heart.
Children and youth in foster care deserve the happiness and joy every
child should experience through family life and a safe, loving home.
Families provide children with unconditional love, stability, trust, and
the support to grow into healthy, productive adults. Unfortunately, too
many foster youth reach the age at which they must leave foster care and
enter adulthood without the support of a permanent family.
Much work remains to reach the goal of permanence for every child, and
my Administration has supported States that increased the number of
children adopted out of foster care, providing over $35 million in 2009
through the Adoption Incentives program. We are also committed to
meeting the developmental, educational, and health-related needs of
children and youth in foster care. The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act provided a significant increase in funding for the
Title IV-E adoption and foster care assistance program. States can use
these funds to ensure those placed in foster care will enter a safe and
stable environment.
In addition, we are implementing the Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act. This law promotes permanency and improved
outcomes for foster youth through support for kinship care and adoption,
support for older youth, direct access to Federal resources for Indian
tribes, coordinated health benefits, improved educational stability and
opportunities, and adoption incentives and assistance. Former foster
youth will also benefit from the Affordable Care Act, which, beginning
in 2014, will ensure Medicaid coverage for them in every State.
This month, caring foster parents and professionals across our Nation
will celebrate the triumphs of children and youth in foster care as they
work to remove barriers to reaching a permanent family. Federal, State,
and local government agencies, communities, and individuals all have a
role to play as well. Together, we can ensure that young people in
foster care have the opportunities and encouragement they need to
realize their full potential.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 2010 as National
Foster Care Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with
appropriate programs and activities to honor and support young people in
foster care, and to recognize the committed adults who work on their
behalf each day.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day
of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
fourth.
BARACK OBAMA