My parents were active in the foster care arena during the early part of my young adulthood. They kept a number of children who were not their own, providing food, clothing, shelter, and emotional support.
Some of the children were easy charges. Others not so much. It speaks well of their concern for the youth of the world that they would assume these duties as often and as long as they did.
Today is National Foster Care Day.
It happens on each first Tuesday of May making it May 7 this year.
It is a part of the larger Foster Care Month which is held in recognition of those people who take the children of the world into their homes and provide for them as though they were their own.
Foster Care Month is held under the auspices of the Children’s Bureau, National Foster Youth Institute, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Foster Club, and the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth among other child welfare organizations.
While some children are sadly left unserved at all others remain in the foster care system too long.
The Foster Care recognition days are meant to bring to the fore those issues associated with foster care and their charges who all to often cannot choose or fend for themselves.