( April 26, 2007) Over 513,000 American children are in foster care because their own families are in crisis and unable to provide for their essential wellbeing. Of these children, 32 percent are African American. These numbers are quite disproportionate when you look at the fact that African-American children make up only 15 percent of the total United States population.

Research indicates that children of color are not at greater risk for abuse and neglect than Caucasian children, however, they are more likely to enter and stay in foster care for longer periods of time and are less likely to be either returned home or adopted. Like all young people, youth in foster care, regardless of color, deserve and benefit from enduring, positive relationships with caring adults. Now is the time to get involved.

This May, National Foster Care Month (www.fostercaremonth.org) will serve as a platform for connecting more of these vulnerable children to concerned, nurturing adults. Join America’s leading child welfare agencies, advocates, experts and more than 12 million foster care alumni as they come together to address the needs of young people in foster care. Their message is simple: No matter how much time you have to give, you have the power to do something positive that will “Change a Lifetime” for a young person in foster care.

Across the nation, caring individuals are helping foster children build brighter futures by serving as their foster parents, relative caregivers, mentors, advocates, social workers and volunteers. But much more help is needed. If nothing changes by the year 2020:

•Nearly 14 million confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect will be reported;
•22,500 children will die of abuse or neglect, most before their fifth birthday;
•More than 9,000,000 children will experience the foster care system;
•More than 300,000 children will age out of the foster care system, in poor health and ill-prepared for success in higher education, technical college or the workforce; and,
•99,000 former foster youth, who aged out of the system, can expect to experience homelessness.

"African Americans have long exemplified the meaning of family and have held true to the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child,” said Virginia Pryor of Casey Family Programs and chair of National Foster Care Month. “Unfortunately, so many of our children today are growing up without a permanent place to call home, without a caring adult in their life, and with no ‘village’ to help rear them."


Each year, more than 20,000 young Americans “age-out” of foster care, most at the age of 18 and without the appropriate resources, skills or options they will need to live on their own. Without lasting connections to supportive adults, foster children are far more likely than their peers in the general population to endure homelessness, poverty, compromised health, unemployment, incarceration and other adversities after they leave the foster care system.

The National Foster Care Month campaign is presented by 14 of the nation’s foremost child welfare organizations and is led by Casey Family Programs. “Many children in foster care require secure, stable places to call home until they can either safely reunite with their parents or establish other lifelong family relationships. We hope to inspire and engage many more individuals to take action in support of these children and their families. There are so many ways a person can positively affect the life of a child in foster care,” added Pryor.

For more information about National Foster Care Month, planned community events and activities, and the many ways in which you can make a lasting difference for America’s children and youth in foster care, please visit, www.fostercaremonth.org or call 888-799-KIDS (5437).


National Foster Care Month is a partnership of Casey Family Programs; the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services; Black Administrators in Child Welfare; Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Child Welfare League of America; Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative; APHSA/National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators; National Association of Social Workers; National Association of State Foster Care Managers; National CASA; National Foster Care Coalition; the National Foster Parent Association; and the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work, a Service of the Children’s Bureau.