Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the month of May gives us the chance to raise awareness about the challenges of children in the foster care system and to consider ways to improve policies and practices to ensure that children are in safe, loving, and permanent homes. There are nearly 415,000 children living in foster care; more than 255,000 entered the foster care system in 2014 alone. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, AFCARS, data for fiscal year 2014, the vast majority of foster children reside with a foster parent: 29 percent live in the foster family home of a relative, and 46 percent live in the foster family home of a non-relative. The rest live in institutions, 8 percent; groups homes, 6 percent; pre-adoptive homes, 4 percent; trial home visits, 5 percent; supervised independent living, 1 percent; or are runaways, 1 percent. As co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, I led a bipartisan and bicameral group of colleagues in introducing legislation recognizing May as National Foster Care Month. The resolution aims to bring foster care issues to the forefront and recognize the essential role that foster parents, social workers, and advocates have in the lives of children in foster care. While there have been vast improvements over the years, there are many challenges still facing our Nation's youth. These children have experienced abuse or neglect, often both.…”