National Adoption Month, 2015

Vol. 80

Monday,

No. 211

November 2, 2015

Part IV

The President

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Proclamation 9354--National Adoption Month, 2015

Proclamation 9355--National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, 2015

Proclamation 9356--National College Application Month, 2015

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 9354 of October 28, 2015

National Adoption Month, 2015

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

All young people deserve a safe place to live, and with
each passing year, more children know the warmth and
comfort of a loving family thanks to adoptive parents.
People who adopt do so for a variety of reasons, but
they are united in the kindness and devotion they show
toward children--the people who need it most. During
National Adoption Month, we recognize the selflessness
of adoptive families, and we thank them for opening
their hearts and their doors to young people in need of
a safe, stable place to call home.

More than 400,000 children are in foster care across
America today, and over 100,000 of these children are
waiting for an adoptive home. Last year, over 23,000
youth aged out of the foster care system without having
found their forever families. When people adopt, they
open up a world of promise and possibility by providing
a steady, supportive environment for youth to live in.
November 21 marks National Adoption Day, when we unite
as families, advocates, and communities--and as a
country--to raise awareness of the barriers to adoption
and recommit ourselves to moving more of our young
people into permanent homes.

My Administration is dedicated to supporting adoptive
parents and making it easier for families to adopt.
Earlier this year, I implemented new Federal Government
leave policies aimed at expanding workplace flexibility
and helping employees who are balancing the needs of
their family, including the birth or adoption of a
child, with the demands of their job. I was proud to
permanently extend the Adoption Tax Credit, which helps
provide necessary financial support to adoptive
families to ease the economic burden of the adoption
process. And last summer, the Intercountry Adoption
Universal Accreditation Act went into effect--a law I
signed to enforce our high legal standards for adoption
service providers and to protect parents and children
of adoptive families around the world.

Families across our country won a victory earlier this
year when the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution
guarantees marriage equality--affirming the notion that
LGBT couples deserve to be treated equally. This ruling
was a victory for same-sex couples who have fought for
equality and for children whose parents' marriages will
now be recognized as legitimate throughout America. And
because of the ruling, more kids in foster care will
now have the chance to be welcomed into a loving and
supportive family to call their own.

As we come together to give thanks and show our
appreciation for the professionals who work tirelessly
to ensure the adoption process runs smoothly and
efficiently, we celebrate the stories of those who have
been permanently and positively affected by adoption.
During National Adoption Month, let us embrace the
unique place adoptive families have in America, and let
us extend our fullest gratitude to all those who have
welcomed home a child in need.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 2015

as National Adoption Month. I encourage all Americans
to observe this month by answering the call to find a
permanent and caring family for every child in need and
by supporting the families who care for them.

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