Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Proclaims May as Foster Care Month
Works to Expand Health Care Coverage for Foster Children
JEFFERSON CITY– Gov. Matt Blunt today signed a proclamation declaring May as Foster Care Month in Missouri and reiterated his commitment to ensuring foster children have access to health care.
"Missouri is fortunate to have many wonderful families who open their hearts to children who are in need of a loving home," Blunt said. "Foster families play a vital role in Missouri's efforts to strengthen and reunite troubled families or help a child's transition into a new, nurturing home."
There are nearly 10,000 children in Missouri's foster care system. Missouri has more than 3,000 licensed foster families who provide affection and encouragement to children who cannot remain in their homes. Increasingly, children are finding temporary homes with relatives or other families who are known to them. This "kinship" care makes it easier to transition from their homes to foster care.
For children who cannot safely return to their parents, permanency is achieved through adoption. In Missouri, approximately 60 percent of foster children find their "forever homes" through adoption by their foster parents.
For this reason, recruitment efforts for foster and adoptive families go hand-in-hand. Among Missouri's most successful effort is the Missouri Adoption Heart Gallery, which both the governor and First Lady Melanie Blunt have helped to promote. The traveling gallery features photographs of foster children who are available for adoption. The photos are the work of some of Missouri's premier portrait photographers, who donate their time and talent to the project. The gallery is available on-line at www.moheartgallery.org, along with a complete schedule of gallery showings.
Blunt has been committed to ensuring that children in Missouri's foster care system receive the care they deserve. The governor's MO HealthNet plan would expand health care coverage for foster children until they turn 21. Currently they lose coverage after their 18th birthday, if they leave foster care.
"I want to ensure Missouri's foster children are provided tools they need to successfully transition into adulthood. Providing health care to Missouri's foster children after they turn 18 ensures they are better equipped to become self-reliant," Blunt said.
Those interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent can call 1-800-554-2222.