U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, signed on last week to be a co-sponsor of a bill that would recognize May as National Foster Care Month. That resolution later passed.

He was not alone, of course, in addition to sponsors Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., there were 14 co-sponsors for the bill. It’s a sign of how important most senators understand our foster care system is.

“Loving foster families offer stability and guidance when kids may need it most. My parents adopted me from foster care. I’ve seen how transformational a child’s first years of life can be, and strengthening the foster care system gives kids a better chance to achieve their version of the American dream. I’m honored to shine a light on foster families and the kids they love,” said Husted.

But the bill is meant simply to “raise awareness about the challenges of children in the foster care system, and (encourage) Congress to implement policies to improve the lives of children in the foster care system.”

Meanwhile, as Husted points out, in Ohio alone more than 16,000 children are in the foster-care system. One reason for that is our region’s struggle under the substance abuse epidemic. Husted’s office says approximately 50% of children who have entered the foster care system have one or both parents in the grip of substance abuse.

But there are only 7,200 foster families in Ohio licensed to fill the need for these kids.

Declaring yet another national awareness month is nice, then, but will members of Congress take seriously the part about implementing policies to improve the lives of kids in the system?

The bill calls foster parents the “front-line caregivers for children who cannot safely remain with their biological parents,” and says “foster parents provide physical care, emotional support and education advocacy, and are the largest single source of families providing permanent homes for children leaving foster care to adoption.”

How do we support people willing to put themselves in that position for vulnerable kids? For that matter, how do we support families so their children never find themselves in such a position in the first place?

Perhaps the measure supported by Husted and others will get members of Congress thinking about those matters in a way that truly helps these young people and foster families who welcome them.

THAT would be a real improvement, indeed.