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May 2012Vol. 13 No. 4May Is National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to acknowledge the foster parents, family members, community members, child welfare professionals, and policymakers who help children and youth in foster care find permanent homes and connections. This month is also a time to focus on ways to create a bright future for the more than 400,000 children and youth in foster care.

The Children's Bureau—with its information service, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections—supports National Foster Care Month through a dedicated web section on the Information Gateway website:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth

The focus of this year's web section is Achieving Well-Being With Children and Youth in Care, and the section provides resources to help caseworkers, managers, and administrators support children, youth, and their families:

  • Build well-being postpermanency
  • Build well-being with transitioning youth
  • Build well-being through support in sibling connections
  • Build well-being through support in school and the community
  • Build well-being through trauma-informed child welfare system

The National Foster Care Month web section also features real-life stories of children, youth, and families involved in foster care. These stories can help child welfare workers, managers, training staff, and others engage audiences in a variety of settings. They are great tools for highlighting the importance of building well-being for children and youth in care. View the stories here:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth/stories.cfm

The Children's Bureau also is a partner in the national "Change a Lifetime" campaign. For more information on this initiative, visit:

http://www.fostercaremonth.org

To read the Presidential Proclamation and get updates on activities and tips about how to get involved, visit the National Foster Care Month web section:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth