"America’s foster youth are not defined by their circumstances - they are defined by their potential." Melania Trump
Fostering the Future initiatives empower our children by providing resources, educational support, and opportunities.
Fostering the Future Scholarships
Melania Trump established Fostering the Future in 2021.
Fostering the Future, a Be Best initiative, secures scholarship opportunities at colleges and universities across the nation for individuals within the foster care community. Today, over 20 schools across the country, including Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin, University of Georgia, and The Ohio State University offer Fostering the Future Scholarships.
Scholarship recipients learn in a supportive environment, gaining knowledge critical to realizing job security. These individuals will be prepared to enter the workforce and ultimately reach financial independence.
Many children in the foster care community lack the support and stability to finish their education and gain meaningful employment. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, only 50 percent of foster children finish high school, and only three percent of former foster children obtain a college degree. Twenty percent of the children in foster care will become homeless after aging out of the system, and only half will have gainful employment by the age of 24.
Fostering the Future for American Children and Families
Mrs. Trump successfully organized an Executive Order in November 2025 entitled, “Fostering the Future for American Children and Families.” This unprecedented Presidential Order unites Federal resources with innovative public and private-sector partnerships to provide more pathways to success for young people who have experienced foster care.
The Executive Order on Fostering the Future for American Children and Families is focused on maximizing strategic partnerships with Americans of faith and modernizing the child welfare system:
- Fostering the Future Pledge & Future Commitments: Establishes a Fostering the Future program to secure government, private-industry, nonprofit, and academic partners’ commitments for new educational and employment pathways for youth transitioning out of foster care;
- Online Resource and Planning Hub: Authorizes the creation of a Fostering the Future online platform for current and former foster youth to develop customized plans for their self-sufficiency and success by connecting them with critical resources;
- Increased Access to Federal Support: Increases access to Education and Training Vouchers and federal grants to support more time-limited and credentialed programs that promote educational success, workforce advancement, and financial literacy for young people transitioning out of care; and
- Expanded Educational Opportunities: Expands educational opportunities by facilitating state use of scholarship programs funded by tax-credited donations to scholarship-granting organizations for children in foster care.
As a result, public and private-sector partners can make commitments to expand access to mentorships, scholarships, technology, and workforce training for youth who have experienced foster care.
HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI)
HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) program offers housing vouchers to local public housing authorities (PHAs) for young adults under the age of 25 who are in, or have recently left, the foster care system. Participants are also provided with supportive services to help them work toward their educational and career goals.
In July 2025, Mrs. Trump secured a $30 million commitment in the FY26 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations bill for housing vouchers, aimed at youth aging out of foster care.
Expanding Workplace Flexibilities and Support for Foster and Adoptive Families
In a coordinated effort led by Mrs. Trump and the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced new actions to expand workplace flexibilities and support for foster and adoptive families across the federal workforce.
To advance these efforts, OPM is directing agencies to highlight key provisions in its Handbook on Leave and Workplace Flexibilities for Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care; and federal agencies are being mobilized to better connect employees with a wide range of workplace flexibility and benefits available when fostering or adopting a child - including up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave, leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, flexible work schedules, and other tools designed to help working families navigate major life transitions.
Championing New Foster Care Legislation in Congress
Mrs. Trump joined the House Ways and Means Committee on April 15, 2026 to advance landmark legislation designed to protect America’s foster care children.
Mrs. Trump is actively advancing the next phase of her legislative agenda to further protect and empower America’s children, following the enactment of the TAKE IT DOWN Act — now federal law with its first conviction already secured.
During the roundtable with the House Ways and Means Committee, the First Lady highlighted a myriad of reasons to enact bold foster care legislation, including “housing instability, educational advocacy, financial barriers, transportation, continuity, access to technology, and other related issues.”
The First Lady closed with inspirational words to the congressional leaders: “Beginning here in this room, we can once again change people’s lives. With new legislation, we can ensure that opportunity is more than hopeful for individuals in the foster care community—it can be their birthright.”
Official Announcement and Melania Trump’s Remarks
Fostering the Future Act (H.R. 7432)
On May 19, 2026, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 7432, the Fostering the Future Act, supporting current and former foster youth transitioning to independence and adulthood.
Fostering the Future Accounts
Mrs. Trump launched Fostering the Future Accounts on June 11, 2026. Fostering the Future Accounts are new financial resources designed to empower foster youth to be fiscally autonomous upon reaching the age of majority.
“Fostering the Future Accounts give foster children the same chance for asset ownership and long-term wealth building as every other American child. By investing in our foster youth now, we help strengthen America’s workforce, communities, and economic future,” Mrs. Trump explained.
This historic measure was designed by Mrs. Trump in tandem with the U.S. Department of Treasury. At the time of the announcement, twenty three Governors pledged to set up Fostering the Future Accounts for children within their states’ care.
Official Announcement and Mrs. Trump's Remarks
Fostering the Future Together
Fostering the Future Together is a global coalition of nations aligned to empower children through education and technology.
Mrs. Trump shared her vision of forming the new entity during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, and invites First Spouses or equivalent leaders around the globe to participate in the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition to help children learn, grow, and thrive through the safe and innovative use of advanced technology.
After sharing her vision, Mrs. Trump hosted the inaugural two day meeting in March 2026 at the U.S. Department of State and The White House. Representatives from 45 nations engaged in action-oriented diplomacy.
Fostering the Future Together will make available advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to assist children, educators, and parents around the world, while also protecting them from online dangers.