President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to promote foster care investment and expand resources for children in foster homes and those aging out of the foster care system.
As part of First Lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future Initiative, the “Fostering the Future for American Children and Families” executive order, federal resources will be dedicated to helping foster children succeed after foster care.
“My Administration is dedicated to empowering mothers and fathers to raise their children in safe and loving homes. When crises prevent such an arrangement, our Nation’s foster care system must be ready to serve children in need,” the order reads.
The order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take actions to improve and modernize State-level child-welfare data collection and publication, and to ensure that foster children are being matched with appropriate caregivers with increased monitoring of child well-being.
The order notably seeks to decrease the average time that children spend in foster care and accelerate permanent placement for children in foster homes, as well as “increase partnerships and collaboration with appropriate non-governmental entities, including faith-based organizations.”
The HHS Secretary is also directed to work with the Director of the White House Faith Office and the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to “take appropriate action to address State and local policies and practices that inappropriately prohibit participation in federally-funded child-welfare programs by qualified individuals or organizations based upon their sincerely-held religious beliefs or moral convictions” and to “take appropriate action to increase partnerships between agencies and faith-based organizations and houses of worship to serve families whose children have been placed in foster care or are at risk of being placed in foster care.”
Additionally, the order directs funds to be used to “promote educational success, occupational advancement, and financial literacy and self-sufficiency for individuals transitioning out of foster care.”
Per News Nation:
Charell Star, a former foster youth and vice president of New York City’s chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, told “Morning in America” she is hopeful about the executive order, saying it’s crucial to help young people leaving foster care avoid homelessness.
“Any attention on the needs of youth who are aging out of care — 20,000 youth age out of care every year — around 50% of them end up homeless,” Star said. “Any awareness, any push to help these youth not end up homeless and have stability in their lives is really important, and something that I support.”
First Lady Melania Trump, who spearheaded the initiative, spoke during a signing ceremony in the White House’s East Room before she and the President signed the order into law. First Lady Trump expressed optimism that the program will equip foster children with knowledge and guidance to succeed in life and “ultimately become leading executives,” who “manage thousands of employees.”
“Following graduation, scholarship recipients from my program are prepared to enter the workforce and, ultimately, become leading executives,” she said. Predictably, they will manage thousands of employees and generate significant value for American communities—through job creation, access to healthcare, food security, and other societal benefits.”
WATCH:
President Trump also delivered remarks, where he credited the One Big Beautiful Bill for making this possible and touted the initiative’s goal of gearing foster youth for success, utilizing the federal tax credit scholarship program in the legislation.
He further declared that this order will eliminate the “ridiculous woke policies that discriminate against Christians and families of faith.”
“As we make America great again, we are going to protect American children in foster care, and we’re going to ensure that they will never, ever be forgotten,” Trump added.
President Trump asked the First Lady to also sign the new law after putting his signature on the historic order.
WATCH:
Among those present at the event were various lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., HUD Secretary Scott Turner, and current and former foster youth.
The post President Trump and First Lady Trump Sign Executive Order Expanding Foster Care Resources and Promoting Faith-Based Foster Care – Ends “Ridiculous Woke Policies” that Discriminate Against Christian Foster Homes (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.