by Amanda Head
Building on actions from his first term, Trump aims at putting American families first by bolstering a system rife with problems and negative outcomes.
President Donald Trump's upcoming "Fostering the Future" executive order advances his mission to bolster and safeguard American families by overhauling a failing foster care system to ensure stable homes, expand educational and career pathways, and empower at-risk youth to break free from hardship and build thriving futures.
"Fostering the Future" is a new program under first lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" initiative, designed to provide targeted resources for foster children. It highlights the need to provide emotional, educational and vocational support to help young people transition successfully into adulthood, amid myriad challenges, borne out through statistics of abuse and low success rates.
"This initiative was inspired by compassion, strength and kindness," the first lady has said. "These qualities are the fabric of our nation and allow for a place of freedom and opportunity for all from coast to coast. Americans have an unwavering resolve to help one another and share a common bond in wanting to create a better future for our next generation."
Studies show just 50% of foster children graduate from high school and just 3% go on to earn a college degree, according to the National Foster Youth Institute. In an effort to improve those numbers, the White House order directs federal agencies to develop scholarships and training programs in high-growth sectors like technology education, particularly in computer science and AI-related fields, to promote financial independence and job security for those in foster care.
This follows a trend by the 45th and 47th president that embodies his America First agenda by putting families first. During Trump's first term, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the Child Tax Credit to $2,000 per child to ease financial burdens on families.
In 2018, Trump enacted the Family First Prevention Services Act to fund preventive services that prioritize keeping children with their families to avoid foster care entry. In 2020, Trump issued an Executive Order strengthening the child welfare system to promote permanency, reduce abuse, and support foster and adoptive families. Also toward the end of his first term, Trump signed legislation providing 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees.
Carrying on the same efforts in his second term, Trump in January signed an Executive Order expanding school choice and educational freedom, allowing families to use federal funds for private, faith-based, and alternative schooling options.
Then in April, he announced plans to boost the U.S. birthrate through family incentives like baby bonuses and fertility support programs, aiming to promote larger, stable American families and address demographic challenges. In May, Trump designated the month National Foster Care Month to bring awareness to the challenges within the system.
There are over 520,000 children in foster care and according to the U.S. Administration for Children and Families' annual report on adoption and foster care statistics, in 2023, only 50,193 children were adopted from foster care – a decrease of over 5% from the previous year, and more than a 24% decrease since 2019.
Problems in the foster care system go beyond deficiencies and malfunction. Up to 40% of those in foster care face some form of mouth treatment, with neglect being the most prevalent at 53%, followed by physical abuse at 16% and sexual abuse at 4.4%. Over half of foster children will have an encounter with the juvenile legal system by age 17, and studies indicate that around 70% of former foster care youth are arrested at least once by age 26.
Amanda Head
Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/strengthening-families-trump-sign-executive-order-improving-foster-care
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