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Metro Council recognizes May 2025 as National Foster Care Month, cites recent state bills and memorializes youth who died in care
Summary
The Metropolitan Council adopted a resolution recognizing May 2025 as National Foster Care Month, highlighted recent Tennessee legislation expanding foster youth rights and services, and memorialized youth who died while in foster care.
The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County went on record recognizing May 2025 as National Foster Care Month and marked a moment to remember youth who have died while in foster care.
The resolution, read during the council meeting and adopted as presented, cited national and state statistics and recent Tennessee legislation. Council member Kupe introduced the presentation and read the text of the resolution. The council noted a 2024 national estimate of about 391,000 children in foster care and a 2024 Tennessee report that placed more than 5,200 foster youth in the state, with more than 800 youth aging out of foster care in Tennessee in 2023.
The resolution referenced legislation passed by the Tennessee General Assembly earlier in 2025. According to the text read at the meeting, Senate Bill 1015 (April 2025) was described as ensuring that children in state custody have the right to education, housing and medical care, may contact legal representation without restriction, and may report violations of personal rights without punishment. The council also referenced House Bill 103, which extends transitional services for former foster youth from age 21 to age 23.
A youth speaker who identified herself as a Nashville teenager and a Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools graduate addressed the council and read counts of youth deaths in state custody: 11 in 2021, nine in 2022, 13 in 2023, 11 in 2024 and six so far in 2025. "Tonight, we remember them. We mourn them because they were valuable members of the Nashville community," she said.
Speakers urged community support for foster youth through volunteering and local organizing, and noted ongoing litigation referenced during remarks as "kids who are suing DCS." The resolution text also called for observance of a Foster Care Memorial Day on the third Sunday in May.
The resolution language states it "shall take effect from and after its adoption," and the council adopted it as read. The meeting transcript did not record a roll-call vote tally for the resolution.
Background: National Foster Care Month has been observed since 1988 following a presidential proclamation. The document read at the council attributed several rights and service expansions to the cited Tennessee bills passed in 2025.
The council did not specify implementation steps, funding or an oversight assignment tied to the resolution during the announcements portion in which it was read.
