Remember the Women Holding Foster Families Together

This article was co-authored by Angela O'Neill, Senior Strategic Fellow, member of the Advisory Council at America First Women’s Initiative and mother of four adopted children.

Every politician in Washington claims to care about children, but America's foster care system too often tears families apart before it supports them, sweeping vulnerable children into the hands of bureaucracy and leaving thousands of young people to age out without stability, belonging, or hope.

Every year, as Mother's Day coincides with National Foster Care Month, we're reminded of who bears the brunt of that failure: mothers, grandmothers, foster moms, and adoptive moms fighting to hold families together.

This issue is deeply personal to us.

One of us has had the privilege of adopting four children. We have seen the beauty, resilience, and extraordinary potential of children who simply needed someone to believe they were worth fighting for. We have also seen firsthand how broken systems can make healing harder instead of easier.

At the America First Women's Initiative, we believe that strong families are the foundation of a strong Republic. That means foster care reform can’t stop at growing government programs or creating more red tape. Foster care reform must restore the role of family, empower communities, and put children at the center of the conversation.

For decades, America's child welfare system has strayed from its purpose. Children must be protected from genuine abuse and danger. But today, too many removals happen because of poverty, temporary hardship, housing instability, or bureaucratic standards rather than immediate threats to a child’s safety.

Research shows children thrive when connected to family and community support systems, whenever safely possible. Kinship care by grandparents, relatives, and extended family leads to stronger emotional and developmental outcomes than traditional foster placements. Community-driven models mobilizing churches and local nonprofits prove that families in crisis need support before separation.

The answer is rebuilding a culture that refuses to abandon families – a role mothers often lead.

Mothers open their homes to foster children they've chosen to love, not just those they've given birth to. They stay up through the night, helping traumatized kids feel safe enough to sleep. The maternal instinct to sense when a child is in danger of falling into drugs, crime, or worse is one of God's greatest gifts to women, and so often, the only one willing to pick up the pieces of a broken child is their grandmother.

This Mother’s Day, those women deserve more than praise. They deserve policies that actually support them.

That means that if a child is not in danger, the priority should be keeping the family together, as well as extending support for kinship care and protecting faith-based foster and adoption ministries instead of subjecting them to unwarranted scrutiny due to their beliefs. We must extend due process rights to parents before removing their children and restore the role of churches, neighborhoods, and local communities as America's first safety net.

Dr. Alveda King has spent years reminding Americans that a true culture of life doesn't end at birth. Her ministry has consistently challenged our country to value every child by supporting mothers, strengthening families, and creating communities where children are protected and loved. She’s right.

If we're going to call ourselves a pro-family nation, we must treat the root cause of family separation. When the situation calls for children to enter foster care, we must set them up for success in adulthood.

We do have leadership to thank for putting a spotlight on these issues. First Lady Melania Trump has brought renewed attention to foster youth through her "Fostering the Future" initiative, calling foster care reform a moral imperative and spotlighting education, stability, and long-term opportunity for children aging out of care.

But the government alone won't heal this crisis.

As we restore the American Dream, we should embrace community and the village that raises a child. Churches must step up as resources for struggling families. Neighbors must pivot from indifference to intentional relationships. More families must say yes to fostering, mentoring, adopting, and helping children who need stability.

Every child deserves a home and a family willing to fight for them.

Every mother embarking on that journey deserves a country willing to fight alongside her.