FosterClub's Toolkit for
National Foster Care Month
There are over 368,500 kids and youth in foster care in the United States.
Young people in foster care face unique barriers to education, employment, housing, healthcare, and supportive connections with adults and peers like them.
National Foster Care Month is our chance to bring resources and public attention to children and youth from foster care so they can reach their potential. This May, commit to learning about foster care, advocating for awareness, and giving through FosterClub!
Meet the National Foster Care Month Influencers!
Our five Lived Experience (LEx) Leaders are leading the way to raise awareness during National Foster Care Month! Get to know them:
Natalie Clark
6 years in Utah’s Foster Care System
25 years old
She/her/hers
Taniyah Williams
3 years in Indiana’s Foster Care System
19 years old
She/Her/Hers
Mayda Berrios
4 years in Delaware’s Foster Care System
24 years old
She/Her/Hers
Bianca Bennett-Scott
8 years in New York’s Foster Care System
26 years old
She/Her/Hers
Gabe Foley
18 years in Illinois’ Foster Care System
23 years old
He/Him/His
Learn.
Educating yourself about foster care is the first step to spreading awareness among others. Reflect on the below information. Use these messages and statistics to start conversations with those around you.
Key Messages
- Foster care is hard. Young people from foster care face unique barriers to education, employment, housing, healthcare, and supportive connections with adults and peers like them.
- Being in foster care can mean growing up without the safety net and privilege of a stable family. Young people from foster care often lack consistent adults to guide them in the transition to adulthood.
- With proper investment, young people from foster care accomplish great things. Our Lived Experience Leader and Foster to Famous profiles are real-world examples.
- It's not the fault of the young person in foster care that they entered the child welfare system. Youth enter foster care for a variety of reasons, and their affiliation with this system does not make them a bad kid.
- Young people are experts on their own lives. Empowering youth to make informed decisions about their supports, who provides them, and when can improve outcomes. (2024 NFCM Outreach toolkit)
- We all have a part to play in bettering life for children and youth who experience foster care. Not everyone can be a foster parent. But anyone can be an ally to youth from foster care with this toolkit.
- FosterClub is changing the game for young people who experience foster care. Empowering youth with lived experience, we provide transformative direct support and drive impactful, systemic change.
Statistics
- Every two minutes, a child enters foster care.
- There are currently over 368,500 youth in foster care in the United States. In 2021, one-third were ages 1 to 5 and 7% babies. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
- On average, young people in foster care spend two birthdays in the system.
- Each year, living arrangements change at least three times for over a third of children and young adults in foster care. This often involves packing one’s belongings and leaving behind pets, friends, neighbors, and relatives.
- Approximately 20,000 youth age out of foster care each year without a permanent family. (2024 NFCM Outreach Toolkit) Youth aging out often lack support to apply to college and jobs, file taxes, or stick to a budget.
Get Your Merch
Raise awareness while also supporting children and youth through FosterClub!
Advocate.
Unless child welfare has personally impacted them, the average American likely doesn’t think much about foster care. If they do, they may believe common misconceptions that young people from foster care are all “bad kids” or that they are completely taken care of by the government. You can help the public understand foster care and commit to improving the lives of its young people with the resources below.
Social Media
Mix and match your favorite post text and graphic below. Add the official National Foster Care Month hashtag (#FosterCareMonth) to the end of your post to connect your followers and friends to the national conversation. And don’t forget to tag @FosterClub!
Posts
Post 1: Join me in taking a stand for kids and young adults from foster care. Easy ways to get involved: /national-foster-care-month
Post 2: Foster care is hard. But with proper investment, kids and young adults from foster care thrive. Join the movement for youth who experience foster care: /nfcm
Post 3: We all have a part to play in improving life for the 368,500 kids and youth currently in foster care. Easy ways to get involved: /nfcm
Post 4: Nothing about us without us! Young people with lived experience like me are changing the game in child welfare. Be an ally: /nfcm
Post 5: As a foster parent/child welfare professional, I know the potential of kids and young adults who experience foster care. I also know their challenges: barriers to education, employment, housing, healthcare, and supportive connections with adults and peers like them. Anyone can make a difference in a young life touched by child welfare. Join the movement: /nfcm
Social Graphics
Zoom Backgrounds
Use our Zoom backgrounds so everyone on your calls knows it’s National Foster Care Month! Download your favorite image below. Then use these instructions to change your background.
Get a Proclamation!
Our free Step-by-Step Guide will lead the way. Download now, gather a group of advocates to connect to a VIP, and raise some REAL awareness!
Give.
When you donate to or fundraise for FosterClub, you're supporting young people navigating profoundly difficult periods of their childhoods. We need the energy, heart, and dedication of people who believe:
Every kid deserves to know they're not alone in their foster care journey.
Young people deserve better than the current foster care system.
Youth in foster care need us now more than ever.
Your gift is amplified. Young people from foster care amplify our work through thousands of volunteer hours.
100% to the kids. Our commitment to supporters: All donations go directly to programs benefiting young people in foster care.
Host a Fundraiser!
The easiest, quickest way to improve life for the 368,500 kids and young adults currently in foster care in the U.S.? Donate to FosterClub!
Giving to FosterClub has a direct, meaningful, positive impact on the lives of young people in and from foster care. Because we put young people from foster care in the driver’s seat in child welfare reform, we have a unique understanding of their challenges and needs. We therefore effectively improve the circumstances of their lives so they can thrive. National Foster Care Month is a perfect time to support young people from foster care by making a gift to FosterClub today.
The easiest, quickest way to improve life for the 368,500 kids and young adults currently in foster care in the U.S.? Donate to FosterClub!
Giving to FosterClub has a direct, meaningful, positive impact on the lives of young people in and from foster care. Because we put young people from foster care in the driver’s seat in child welfare reform, we have a unique understanding of their challenges and needs. We therefore effectively improve the circumstances of their lives so they can thrive. National Foster Care Month is a perfect time to support young people from foster care by making a gift to FosterClub today.
FosterClub is a proud partner of the Children Bureau’s National Foster Care Month campaign.
The Children's Bureau Outreach Toolkit provides great information and resources for the child welfare field to leverage May as National Foster Care Month.
