A report from the Iowa Department of Human Services shows there are nearly 800 children in the state who are eligible for adoption and November is National Adoption Month.
Bambi Schroeder, of Iowa KidsNet, says more foster parents are urgently needed as more and more children are in need of temporary homes.
“With the shortage of foster parents that we have right now, literally, people are getting their license and within days or weeks, they’re getting kids in their homes,” Schroeder says. “We are needing homes so badly that families have to be ready when they are done with their classes to be ready to get kids pretty quickly.”
To become a licensed foster care provider, parents need to complete a 30-hour training course. It runs ten weeks with each session meeting for three hours.
“The goal is, within 40 days of the classes ending, the family would be submitted to DHS who would have the final stamp of approval,” Schroeder says. “We would get the family licensed and then the matching process starts.”
Adoption Day events were held this past weekend in Iowa cities including Dubuque, Des Moines and Peosta, with more adoption events scheduled in the coming days in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Davenport, Webster City, Mason City, Council Bluffs and Sioux City.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City