Over 14,000 Foster Children Remain Without Homes Throughout Missouri

It’s a problem in the lake area we really don’t pay too much attention to unless it really hits home…the numbers of young kids and even teenagers that are without permanent homes.

Courtney Beyer, with the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association says the numbers alone are overwhelming.

“For kiddos that don’t ever find that stability…..More than half of them will be homeless at some point in their lives. They’re six times more likely to abuse substances. More than 25% of them are going to be incarcerated within just two years of exiting the system. And for a lot of the women…..70% of them are pregnant by age 21.”

Currently across Missouri, there are 14-thousand kids without permanent homes in the system…and those are just the ones that are known about.

The issue was complicated, also, by the loss of nearly 300 foster homes during the pandemic.