(Radio Iowa) – Iowa saw more children in foster care who were referred to a home last year than there were licensed foster families, according to Four Oaks, the state’s contractor for licensing foster and adoptive parents.
Kai (KYE) McGee, director of foster care and adoption at the nonprofit, says the gap is actually worse, as not every home is always readily available to take in a child. McGee says children who don’t have relatives to stay with must leave wherever they live, then they may end up spending some time in emergency shelters. There were about 24-hundred referrals for children needing a foster home last year, and only about 17-hundred licensed foster families. Four Oaks C-E-O Mary Beth O’Neill says rates need to go up to recruit more parents.
The typical rate is about 600 dollars a month per child, depending on the child’s age and needs. McGee says foster parents are essentially unpaid volunteers, who don’t usually break even.
