National Adoption Month, 2000

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7371 of November 7, 2000

National Adoption Month, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Families are the cornerstone of our Nation. Yet, today,
tens of thousands of America's children are living
within our child welfare system, without the sustained
love and care of permanent families. For many of these
children, often shuttled from one living situation to
another, adoption opens the door to loving parents and
permanent homes, where they can put down roots and
learn what it means to be part of a safe, stable
family. Adoption gives children who have been orphaned,
abandoned, or abused a precious second chance at
happiness; a chance to love and be loved and to reach
their full potential in a secure, supportive
environment.

While foster care offers children a safe temporary
haven, adoption allows children to have the permanent
homes they deserve. That is why increasing the chances
of adoption for children in the foster care system has
been one of my Administration's chief goals. Over the
last 8 years, we have worked with the Congress to craft
legislation that makes it easier, faster, and more
affordable for parents to adopt children. Adoptive
parents--like all new parents--can now take time off to
care for their newly adopted children without fear of
losing their jobs. We have ensured health coverage for
adopted children with special needs, barred
discrimination and delays of adoptions on the basis of
race or ethnicity, provided tax cuts to families
adopting children, and offered States financial
incentives to move children more rapidly from foster
care into the permanent homes of loving families.

We are beginning to see dramatic results from these
efforts. Last year alone, 46,000 foster children were
adopted--an increase of nearly 65 percent since 1996.
All 50 States, as well as the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, have succeeded in increasing the number of
children adopted from their child welfare systems. This
puts us well on the way to meeting my goal of doubling
the annual number of adoptions from 28,000 in 1996 to
56,000 in 2002.

Despite our efforts, nearly 20,000 18-year-olds still
leave foster care each year without the emotional,
social, and financial support that adoptive families
provide. To help them make the challenging transition
to successful, independent adulthood, I signed the
Foster Care Independence Act last year. This
legislation provides young people who are growing too
old for the foster care system with better educational
opportunities and access to health care, training,
housing assistance, counseling, and other services.

As we observe National Adoption Month, we should take
pride in our progress, but realize that there is more
work to be done. Let us recommit ourselves to giving
our Nation's most vulnerable children what every child
deserves and needs--a safe, stable home and a loving
family. And let us also give thanks for the many
generous and compassionate families who, through
adoption, have opened their hearts and homes and
changed a child's life forever.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim November 2000 as National

Adoption Month. I urge all Americans to observe this
month with appropriate programs and activities to honor
adoptive families and to participate in efforts to find
permanent, loving homes for waiting children.

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