PROVIDING A HOME

“We desperately need more foster families in our area,” said Dawn Luetje, project manager with Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI), Denison, who works with foster families and children in need of placement in western Iowa.
    “In Shelby County we currently have nine licensed foster families.  Of those nine families, two are only taking relative placements.  There are currently 18 children placed in foster homes in Shelby County.
    “As a result there just are not enough families able to accept placements of children needing a safe place to temporarily stay.  If there isn’t a foster home for a child to go to, they would need to stay at a shelter, and even the shelters are at their capacities.”
    The foster care need isn’t the region’s alone, as Iowa in general has an urgent need for more foster care, especially those families who open their hearts and hopes to pre-teens, teenagers and sibling groups, Luetje said.  Iowa has an ongoing need for more African-American, Latino and Native American foster parents as well, to keep children connected with their language and culture.

Temporary care
    “There is definitely a shortage of foster parents across our service area, and as we get closer to Council Bluffs, that need for foster parents becomes a crisis,” Luetje explained.  “There just are not enough foster homes to care for the children coming into care.”
    LSI currently works closely with the Iowa Department of Human Services to find foster homes for children who can’t live with their biological family due to safety concerns.  If there is not a relative available to help out with the children, a foster family is needed as close to the child’s home and school as possible so they can maintain the positive connections they have in their school and community.