First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday unveiled a new initiative to create investment accounts with $1,000 seed money to offer foster children more financial stability.
The effort, called “Fostering the Future Accounts,” would be set up with the Treasury Department and would be available to any child enrolled in the foster-care system.
“For the first time, children in foster care will have access to a dedicated savings and investment vehicle,” the first lady said at the Thursday event at the Treasury Department.
“Fostering the Future Accounts gives foster children the same chance for asset ownership and long-term wealth building as any other American child.”
Joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the first lady said the accounts will prepare foster children for a fiscally independent future.
The accounts will assist children in foster care to own their own “dedicated savings account and investment vehicle” that they can tap as adults. The accounts will be available for all foster kids, including those with the state as their guardian, Bessent said.
The annoucement builds on President Donald Trump’s “Trump Accounts” effort, which serves as an early 401 (k), giving children born during his second term $1,000 in seed money, and allows their parents to make additional tax-free contributions of $5,000 to their accounts.
The president’s initiative hopes to help out lower-income children by giving them cash, which they’ll be able to withdraw when they turn 18. Any child under the age of 18 in 2026, but those born after 2024 with an authorized parent can be eligible for the $1,000.
The first lady’s initiative focuses on helping young adults in foster care exit the system into “self-sufficiency.”
So far 23 governors have pleged to set up the foster accounts for childen their care, with the first lady calling for more.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that by age 26, children who were in the foster care system have 50% lower earnings and 20% lower employment rates than those not in the system.
Simmons University also reported that 33% of males and 75% of females who’ve been in the foster care system rely on government services to meet basic needs.
The “Fostering the Future” program is part of her “Be Best” campaign. The campaign launched in Trump’s first administration to promote the well-being of children, including goals to combat drug usage and bullying.
Fostering the Future got a boost on Nov. 13, when Trump signed an executive order to help children and teenagers in the foster system with educational opportunities and career development.