A new appeal is going out for Iowans to become foster parents. There are nearly 43-hundred foster children in the state and only about 24-hundred foster parents. Officials say new foster parent recruits are desperately needed to take in hundreds of other kids.Cary Bissell is co-president of the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association. He says foster families play a vital role in helping children heal and reconnect, launching children into successful adulthood. Bissell says those who aren’t lucky enough to get into foster homes often suffer in limbo.Besides being a biological father & grandfather, Bissell says he and his wife have been foster parents nearly 13 years and adoptive parents for 11 years. May is Iowa Foster Care Month. Bissell plans a statewide gathering of foster families in Des Moines for an Iowa Cubs baseball game May 20th.About 70-percent of Iowa foster parents adopt the children they parented if reunification with the biological family isn’t an option. While good, that decreases the number of foster care placements available. For more information about foster care in Iowa, call 800-277-8145.
