The importance of foster parents and the impact they have on the life of a child was the topic of discussion at a meeting to evaluate foster care in Story County Tuesday morning.

“If there was a children’s bill of rights, it would say that every child should have a family,” said Kim Combes, president of Story County Foster Parent Support Group.

Lt. Gov. Joy Corning delivered the keynote speech at the meeting, which was held at Ames City Hall.

Corning spoke about the importance of the community and family in raising a child.

She said having caring foster parents is a vital element in the life of foster children.

There are nearly 50,000 foster children in the United States, according to the Story County Department of Human Services. Of those children, 89 live in Story County.

Story County foster care needs have increased 56 percent since 1996, according to the DHS.

Nationally, 55 percent of children in foster care were there because they had been neglected. Twenty-six percent were physically abused; 10 percent were sexually abused, and 3 percent were emotionally abused.

“It always hurts to take a child out of a home — it is a sad thing,” said Becky Diane of Juvenile Court Services.

Foster parents at the meeting said they grow strong bonds with the children who go through their homes.

“I love them so much; I love them just as much as I love my own children,” said foster parent Bob Walker.

“This has given me a new perspective of the Department of Human Services and other local organizations. When they work together it is like a symphony,” he said.

Some parent-child matches are not successful, Walker said, but most are.

“We have some hard kids, but I have seen a lot of change in the kids,” he said.

“[Finding a place where the children fit in] is like sticking a round peg in a square hole sometimes,” Walker said.

The retention rate of foster parents in Story County is 90.5 percent, according to the DHS.

Department officials said ongoing agency and community support is key in maintaining this percentage.

“It is important to us that we have good service for our foster parents. It is like paying them back,” Diane said. “We feel we have a responsibility to the foster parents.”

As many as 40 percent of foster parents stop fostering within their first year, according to the DHS.

Parents cited agency-related problems in 64 percent of cases in which the parents stopped care and 22 percent stopped because of financial reasons.

“We need people to get into it for the long term,” Combes said. “We need people to stick through it and not quit after six months.”

“The purpose of the meeting was to raise the public awareness of the need for foster parents,” said Patrice Linke of the DHS.

“I thought it was a very successful meeting. I was saddened that more of the public did not attend,” she said.

Most of the people in attendance were already involved in the program, she said.

“I was very appreciative of the public that was there,” Linke said.