National Adoption Month, 2022

Proclamation 10484 of October 31, 2022

National Adoption Month, 2022

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

During National Adoption Month, let us celebrate
families that create safe and supportive homes and
families that are made whole through adoption, and let
us continue working to ensure that every child has a
loving family to call their own.

I am committed to helping families pay for the costs of
adopting a child, which is why I have called for the
adoption tax credit to be made fully refundable. This
would enable devoted adoptive families to worry less
about the costs of welcoming children into their homes
and focus more on laying the supportive foundation for
full and happy lives. I have also proposed extending
the adoption tax credit to legal guardianships--
including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other
relatives--which would make it easier for loving family
members to care for children who need their support.
This measure could also help reduce racial inequities
in our country's child welfare system, which too often
render some children of color more likely to be removed
from their homes and cut off from their families and
communities.

At the same time, my Administration is fighting
discrimination in the adoption process. As part of my
Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals,
we are partnering with State child welfare agencies to
remove barriers and combat biases that can make it
harder for LGBTQI+ families to adopt. The Department of
Health and Human Services will provide training and
technical assistance to State child welfare agencies in
order to better support LGBTQI+ youth, whose needs are
often unmet in the foster care system, and take steps
to ensure all youth are placed in supportive
environments. Additionally, we are committed to
ensuring that older adolescents transitioning from the
foster care system have access to housing and education
and can pay their bills and prepare for adulthood,
which is why I have proposed increasing funding for the
John H. Chafee Successful Transition to Adulthood
program by 70 percent.

This National Adoption Month, we recognize all the
adoptive and kinship families across America who change
children's lives for the better. We give thanks for the
foster families who love, care for, and provide for our
Nation's foster youth as well as the dedicated
professionals who are invested in these children's
futures. We send our encouragement to everyone still
waiting for the chance to adopt and grow their family.
We rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all children
have the unconditional love of a permanent home.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2022
as National Adoption Month. I encourage all Americans
to honor this month by helping the children and youth
in your communities find homes where they can thrive.
Through our collective action, we can connect children
and youth with their forever families and give them a
brighter future.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.