Trump signs executive order aimed at improving foster care system

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order intended to improve the child welfare system, seeking to strengthen foster care and adoption programs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The order, which Trump signed in the Oval Office without media present, aims to improve transparency and oversight and increase collaboration between public, private and faith-based groups that focus on child welfare.

"Among other changes, the Order seeks to increase partnerships between public, private, faith-based, and community organizations to help keep families together and, when that is not possible, to find children forever families," the White House said in a news release announcing the order.

The measure directs Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to assist care-givers by increasing the availability of trauma-informed training, expanding educational options and addressing barriers to accessing federal funding.

The order also attempts to improve federal oversight of child welfare requirements by putting HHS in charge of advising states on the use of federal funds to support legal representation for parents and kids.