I have no experience with the foster care system, other than what I am told by foster alumni or pick up in the media and conferences, except that it is toxic, irresponsible, and a big fat mess. I do know that our foster alum siblings are vocal, active, and persistent in working to improve the lives of current children in the system and those who have aged out. They do great work. The mission of The Foster Care Alumni of America is here.
Today, Donald Trump signed a new executive order (#???? since taking office this time around:) Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, focusing on the foster care mess. It is reportedly Melania’s initiative, and she ceremonial co-signed the order. Here is the announcement from her office.
From my limited perspective, it looks good on paper.
- Fostering the Future Pledge & Future Commitments: Establishes a Fostering the Future program to secure government, private-industry, nonprofit, and academic partners’ commitments for new educational and employment pathways for youth transitioning out of foster care;
- Online Resource and Planning Hub: Authorizes the creation of a Fostering the Future online platform for current and former foster youth to develop customized plans for their self-sufficiency and success by connecting them with critical resources;
- Increased Access to Federal Support: Increases access to Education and Training Vouchers and federal grants to support more time-limited and credentialed programs that promote educational success, workforce advancement, and financial literacy for young people transitioning out of care; and
- Expanded Educational Opportunities: Expands educational opportunities by facilitating state use of scholarship programs funded by tax-credited donations to scholarship-granting organizations for children in foster care.
Except for this:
The EO promises to increase much-needed foster care improvements through taxpayer-funded tax-exempt so-called “faith-based” partnerships with private religious child welfare organizations, churches, and ministries, and to “take actions” of some type (financial?) against individual state government policies/agencies that limit or prohibit “faith-based” groups from participating.
Sec. 4. Maximizing Partnerships with Americans of Faith. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Director of the White House Faith Office and the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, shall:
(a) 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
(b) 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.
IMO, this is a poison pill that will be digested unnoticed, since “faith- based “relationships” in foster care and adoption are common, and the public does not understand the underbelly.
Increased and supported evangelical presence in foster care brings up the question of treatment of kids in state systems farmed out to religious organizations. These kids can be substantially subjected to evangelical coercion and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as reported repeatedly in the media by victims, police, and social workers. All children in foster care are at risk potentially. Especially scary is the treatment of queer and trans kids sent to evangelical foster homes where they can be subjected to coercion, abuse and to potential conversion therapy to “unqueer” them. This is relevant to the EO since the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a study in 2019 that found that 30.4% of foster youth identify as LGBTQ+ and 5% identify as trans, compared to 11.2% and 1.17%, respectively, of non-foster youth.
Banning “faith-based” partnerships is unrealistic, under any administration, but regs creating these relationships need to include safeguards to protect all children from coercive religious foster settings. Here is one safeguard I can think of right off hand, though there are obviously more. States should revoke the foster care licenses of individuals and organizations and refuse to license new applicants that refuse to sign off on safeguards. Here is an example:
Since 2022, Massachusetts has required fosterers to sign the Department of Children and Families (DCF) LGBTQIA+ Non-Discrimination Policy that:
- asks foster parents to commit to creating environments that are “safe, affirming, and free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying for all children, youth, and families regardless of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.”
- prohibits parents and others who contract with DCF from attempting to “convince LGBTQIA+ children/youth to reject or modify their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression” or “impose their personal, cultural, and/or religious beliefs” on children.
Recently a couple from Woburn Massachusetts lost their license because they refused to agree to the policy. They and currently appealing their case. They say:
We will absolutely love and support and care for any child in our home, but we simply can’t agree to go against our Christian faith in this area. And, we were ultimately told you must sign the form as is or you will be delicensed. We would love and care and support any child,” Heath Marvin added, “but if there was an issue where we knew that we would have a different position than DCF, we would just be open and talk to them about it.”
____________
I’ve had no time to deep dive into reaction to the new EO from foster care activists, nd so far I don’t see any. I am really interested in what the real experts have to say.
But a word of warning:
It’s not like Trump and his cronies have shown previous genuine interest in children no matter their status, I am sure in the midst of his voracious late-night keyboard pounding and partying at Mar-a-Lago he has not had a come-to-Jesus-moment and decided to do something altruistic for once in his life. Think DOGE USAID, Medicaid, SNAP, ICE for starters. and the tens of thousands, even millions, of children and their families suffering due to his policies.”” Defunding social services, healthcare, food programs, schools and anything that might actually help people and make their lives better–domestically and internationally–rather than stuffing his and his family’s pockets and those of his special interests, rich cronies, and thugs, makes it hard to take any “nice” thing he does, seriously.
In 2020 Trump signed another Executive Order: Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America’s Children. The EO is not available at its original link, (probably buried somewhere else) but I wrote about it for the Columbus Free Press. Framed in Bigotry and Discrimination: A Brief Look at Trump’s Plan to Strengthen the Child Welfare System. This new EO seems riffed from it, but on a stronger, less broad, more positive.
II seriously doubt that the 2020 EO improved the lives of children.
I seriously hope the new EO improves the lives of foster youth and foster alums.
We’ll see.
____________
(No, it will never be X!)
Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now!
Poke the Bear 2025
Day 13 – 17 days to go!
