Political Quotes

“Mr. President, each year, I look forward to National Foster Care Month as an opportunity to honor the more than 440,000 children and youth in foster care nationwide. It is also an opportunity to honor the foster and kinship families and child welfare workers who support them. This year, in particular, the importance of supporting the children, youth, families and skilled workers in the foster care system has been underscored by the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential that Congress not only honor those who give and receive care as part of this system, but also those who take meaningful action to protect families, children, youth, and workers from the spread of the virus. In my home State of Oregon, more than 11,000 children and youth enter foster care in a given year, and about 7,900 children and youth are living in out-of-home placements on any given day. Oregon provides transition services to about 1,350 young adults, but many continue to struggle to find work, go to college, or complete technical training. The COVID-19 virus has hit these older youth particularly hard. As we consider actions to help the nation weather this pandemic, I would like to recognize a nonprofit organization in my State that represents a critical part of the response to COVID-19 for children and youth in the foster care system and those who have aged out of the system without finding a home to call their own. FosterClub is based in a beautiful town on the Oregon coast, Seaside.…”