Message on the Observance of National Foster Care Month, 2003

I send greetings to those celebrating National Foster Care Month.

Children thrive in loving families where they are nurtured, comforted, and protected. For many children, foster parents provide a safe haven until they can return home or be placed with an adoptive family. Across our Nation, approximately 570,000 children are living in foster care. During this month, we honor foster and adoptive parents, mentors, community organizations, and all individuals who embrace the lives of young people in need.

My Administration remains committed to strengthening American families by setting policies that encourage a secure today and a healthy tomorrow for children and families. Through the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, we are working to keep families together. When children must be separated from their families to protect their safety, this program supports efforts to correct the problem and reunite them safely and quickly. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program also supports adoption and post-adoptive services to place children with loving families, to ease a child's transition into a new family, and to help ensure that families stay strong and intact. And as teens leave the foster care system, the program authorizes States to provide Independent Living vouchers of up to $5,000 a year for education and vocational training.

Every child in America deserves to live in a safe, permanent, and loving family. I commend foster parents for providing guidance and support to young people and families in crisis. Your important work helps our children develop into confident and successful individuals and demonstrates the compassionate spirit of our great Nation.

Laura joins me in sending our best wishes.

GEORGE W. BUSH