By ERIN HARMEYER

People have different reasons for becoming foster parents. For some it’s a passion for children, for others, it’s their way of giving back to society. Despite the generosity of many, there are rarely enough foster parents to meet needs. Lynn Cole, circuit manager for the Boone County Children’s Division, says that recruiting new foster parents is often difficult. State recruitment methods range from passing out flyers at parades to speaking at churches, but the most successful recruiting is done by word-of-mouth.

Retention of foster parents proves far more difficult than recruitment. According to numbers in a 2002 report done by the University of Tennessee Family Foster Care Project, 30-50 percent of licensed foster parents leave the system each year, for reasons ranging from lack of training and support, to a lack of resources to address a child’s special needs.

The picture is not as grim in Missouri, but figures still show a decline. According to the Children’s Services Management Report released by the Missouri Division of Social Services in October 2006, the number of licensed foster homes statewide decreased from 3,148 in October 2005 to 2,984 in October 2006, a 12 percent drop. In Boone County, the number of licensed foster homes in October 2006 was 79, a decrease of about 16 percent from October 2005.

Cole says parents hesitate to foster children and stop fostering children for various reasons. “There’s fear of the unknown,” Cole says. “Or there is the fear of getting too attached to a child, uncertainty about working with parents, there’s just many reasons.”

But one of the main reasons is the low reimbursement rate. Ross says that efforts by the Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Agency to recruit foster parents are hindered by the rates. “Of course you can’t fix the fact that there isn’t enough money in some households, so for some families it is out of the question,” she says. “But some of them are tough enough to hang in there and do it anyway. I’ve had to manage things differently with foster children in my house because it’s something I want to do. My family has made a conscious decision to have a lower quality of life than perhaps we would have done.”

Advocates of child welfare worry that low rates hinder good potential foster parents from becoming licensed. Farber says there is growing evidence that low rates discourage people from becoming and remaining foster parents. “California has had a 30 percent decline in the number of foster parents,” Farber says. “And that has been attributed in part to low rates that haven’t been increased in six years.”

Most of the foster children in Missouri are placed in state custody because of problems with parental abuse or neglect. It’s difficult for children with emotional baggage to adjust to constant moves, which is one of the reasons Jones says things like a meager clothing allowance, as insignificant as it seems, can be so hard on children.

“When you look at a typical family, and they are just getting by but maybe buying their children some nicer things and then you add in some foster children, it’s a big strain on the budget,” Jones says. “But you can’t treat them differently. You can’t be shopping for them at Wal-Mart while your other children are shopping at Abercrombie and Fitch. Or at least you shouldn’t. It’s hard enough for foster children as it is.”

Mileage reimbursement is another benefit that’s advertised to foster parents that often doesn’t pan out. Missouri currently offers 45.5 cents per mile, but only travel to certain destinations, like the doctor’s office, may be reimbursed.

“The mileage reimbursement is something that is rarely ever used, and it is only used for limited circumstances,” Ross says. “For example, if I am driving my student to school because he has been kicked off the bus, which has just recently happened to me, I can’t submit for reimbursement for that. So most foster families, most or all I would say, rarely submit for mileage reimbursement. It’s just not adequate.”

Another benefit advertised to foster parents is a certain number of days of respite care. Many parents enjoy the break, but it’s not always the vacation it seems. When Jones’s 4-year-old son, Markus, recently had his tonsils removed, she needed to spend a few days devoted entirely to his health. Because she is a single mother, this meant putting her 3-year-old foster daughter in respite care so that she could attend to Markus’s needs. “It is frustrating,” Jones says. “What I would like to do is use respite to recharge. But when a child is very ill, sometimes you just have to put other children in respite to get over that hump.”

Cole acknowledges there are unforeseen costs that are often not reimbursed. “We can help with most things,” she says. “The rates probably aren’t enough for room and board. But at least it’s something.”

Many of these costs are related to problems sometimes developed by children with difficult backgrounds. When Ross’s 5-year-old daughter is worried or stressed about something, she picks holes in her clothing. The behavior is common in children like her daughter who have obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ross understands that this is not something her daughter can help. But it weighs on her financially. “You might get two or three wears out of something and need to replace it,” Ross says.

Behavioral and adjustment problems may often cause foster children to act out in school, requiring parents to take time off from work to care for the children, as Ross did when bus privileges were taken from her child for three days for being disruptive. Stoll has experienced similar frustrations with transporting her foster children to and from school. “Yesterday, my daughter had a substitute bus driver who couldn’t find our home,” Stoll says. “So the bus didn’t get out there until 11, which made me miss work and have to call the school and tell them what was going on. I’m trying to do the right thing here, but sometimes it’s just like ‘Gosh, this is overwhelming.’”

Wyatt didn’t expect the higher gas and electricity bills that came with the larger number of people in her home. “Think of how much more detergent you have to buy; how many more loads of laundry you do,” Wyatt says.

Before taking in foster children, Wyatt says her water bill was $30 to $35 per month but climbed as high as $180 when she took in an additional six or more children. She saw similar increases in her gas bill.