Response to Presidential Proclamation on National Foster Care Month
Dear Plummer Youth Promise Community,
On April 30th, the Biden Administration released a Proclamation on National Foster Care Month, 2021 highlighting the importance of a forever family and expressing appreciation for those who work tirelessly to support youth in foster care.
We’re grateful for the Administration’s implementation of flexible funding for youth aging-out of care. Older youth in foster care face extraordinary hurdles as they transition to adulthood, and these funds can help ease the way.
We commend President Biden’s call to address racial inequities that persist in the child welfare system. “Black and Native American children are far more likely than white children to be removed from their homes, even when the circumstances surrounding the removal are similar. Once removed, Black and Native American children stay in care longer and are less likely to either reunite with their birth parents or be adopted.” At Plummer Youth Promise, we’ve committed to deepening our racial equity competency through deliberative organizational discussions and assessments, and implementation of any necessary changes.
We also appreciate and wholly support the Administration’s decision to include $100 million in competitive grants to the Administration’s discretionary funding request for 2022 for State and local child welfare systems to advance racial equity and prevent unnecessary child removals. Individual child welfare providers cannot effectively serve youth without deep partnership with state and local child welfare agencies.
Nicole McLaughlin
Executive Director
