[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 19 (Monday, May 12, 2003)]
[Page 544]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Message on the Observance of National Foster Care Month, 2003

May 5, 2003

    I send greetings to those celebrating National Foster Care Month.
    Children thrive in loving families where they are nurtured, 
comforted, and protected. For many children, foster parents provide a 
safe haven until they can return home or be placed with an adoptive 
family. Across our Nation, approximately 570,000 children are living in 
foster care. During this month, we honor foster and adoptive parents, 
mentors, community organizations, and all individuals who embrace the 
lives of young people in need.
    My Administration remains committed to strengthening American 
families by setting policies that encourage a secure today and a healthy 
tomorrow for children and families. Through the Promoting Safe and 
Stable Families Program, we are working to keep families together. When 
children must be separated from their families to protect their safety, 
this program supports efforts to correct the problem and reunite them 
safely and quickly. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program also 
supports adoption and post-adoptive services to place children with 
loving families, to ease a child's transition into a new family, and to 
help ensure that families stay strong and intact. And as teens leave the 
foster care system, the program authorizes States to provide Independent 
Living vouchers of up to $5,000 a year for education and vocational 
training.
    Every child in America deserves to live in a safe, permanent, and 
loving family. I commend foster parents for providing guidance and 
support to young people and families in crisis. Your important work 
helps our children develop into confident and successful individuals and 
demonstrates the compassionate spirit of our great Nation.
    Laura joins me in sending our best wishes.
                                                George W. Bush

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