National Foster Care Month

A Brief history of Themes & Media Coverage

The Children’s Bureau, founded in 1904 and formally established and signed by President Taft in 1912, is dedicated to improving the lives of children and families. Their work includes providing special acknowledgement to those who carry out foster care for children, families and youth. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan designated May as National Foster Care Month. The Bureau sponsors National Foster Care Month every May to “keep the needs of children and youth in foster care in the minds of the public.”

Below is a timeline of National Foster Care Month themes and related media coverage, from the current year, 2023, back to 2019.

2023: “Strengthening Minds, Uplifting Families”

In deciding on the theme for the year 2023, the Children’s Bureau concentrated on the message received from parents and guardians, as well as from youths, families, and children “to focus on their mental well-being as diligently as we focus on their physical health and safety.” Success in transitioning out of foster care, according to young adults, was due in large part to strong mental health support.

The National Conference of State Legislatures cites the following statistic: “Up to 80 percent of children in fostercare have significant mental health issues, compared to approximately 18-22 percent of the general population.” We find this same concern in the American Academy of Pediatrics Journal: “Mental and beharioral health is the largest unmet health need for chldren and teens in foster care… Foster Care Should provide a stable, nurturing foster or kinship home and all the services appropriate to the needs of children and teens.”

Media Coverage: Foster Care and mental health support issues in 2023:

“Unmet Needs: critics Cite Failures in Health Care for Vulnerable Foster Children” KFFHealthNews.org, January 2023

“Young Adults Formerly in Foster Care: Challenges and Solutions” youth.gov, fiscal year, 2023

“Fostering Heathy Futures for Teens,” mentoring program associated with University of Denver, the Kempe Center, and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

2022: “Relative and Kin Connections: Keeping Families Strong”

This year, 2022, is an important year for foster care. The role of caregiver for foster care children is now recognized and applauded to include kin caregivers beyond the immediate family, as well as fictive caregivers, and financial and administrative support for these caregivers is now available.

2021: Foster Care as a Support to Families, Not a Substitute for Parents (repeat of the 2019 and 2020 themes)

Media CoveragE:

2020: Foster Care as a Support to Families, Not a Substitute for Parents (repeat of the 2019 theme)

The theme of Foster Care Month, May 2020, revolves around support to families. The emphasis is, once again, “Foster Care as a Support to Families, Not a Substitute for Parents.” This repeat emphasis reflects a continuing concern that the foster care system, as a social safety net, is failing. Concurrently, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, brings enormous change to a system already in turmoil.

There are a number of trends that continue to place the foster care system under strain. These still include: An increase in the number of children removed due to drug abuse by parents; strained budgets for agencies supporting foster youth; the controversy over privatization; a stagnant income for most Americans; a shortage of foster parents and lack of training for them; and, of course, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of foster children.

Also, it is becoming clear that already traumatized youth are in need of specialized support programs. How does the emphasis on placement with family help these children?

Since the theme for 2020 is unchanged, here’s a review of some of the major news stories about foster care coverage from 2019 after establishment of the Family First Act.