SubscribePresident Barack Obama kicked off National Foster Care Month by issuing a proclamation recognizing the promise and potential of youth in care. In his statement he highlighted some of the goals and accomplishments of his administration as they pertain to youth in care. The proclamation also celebrates the child welfare workforce and the foster parents who give so much to these youth. In addition to diligently working to implement the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, President Obama and his Administration provided more than $35 million in 2009 to the Adoption Incentives program in order to increase the number of children adopted from the foster care system, as well as funding for the IV-E adoption and foster care assistance program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The recent enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will ensure Medicaid coverage for former foster youth beginning in 2014. President Obama ended his statement with a call to celebrate the triumphs of children and youth in care, as well as the commitment to continue to work to remove barriers to permanency.
http://www.heysf.org/president-kicks-off-foster-care-month-4322.html , 5/11/2010