The Honorable Parson

201 West Capitol Ave, Room 310

Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Governor Parson:

As our state’s constituent, I am writing to address and provide more assistance in the foster care

system in Missouri. The children who are in unstable homes are being affected negatively. The

unstable homes are causing the children to be neglected and abused. The system that is here is

doing some work to help the children. There is a 4.9 ratio of children entering the system, and

96% are receiving visits in the homes of foster families from case workers. There have been

families willing to go into foster care and some who are adopting children who were admitted

into foster care. The children finding a family are 1,419 out of the foster care system. There is

progress in the foster care system that our state is providing.

The system can be better in the context of providing better resources and assistance for the

children in Missouri. Looking through the past statistics, the numbers started high and then

lowered. Which is good that there are less maltreatment children now than in the past. For the

families that are involved in foster care, there should be more assistance and resources.

The foster care system needs better judgment on when a child should be reunified. There are

more graces provided for the parents to receive their child back when there should be less grace

and give the children a stable home with their foster family. The statistics are 100,000 children

being reunified in 2021. Although not all parents are stable enough to receive their child back
into the home, 27% of children return to the foster care system. The state should provide better

resources for the children to cope with all the trauma they go through in their homes and the

experiences they have going back to the biological parents and back to the system. They already

provide free counseling for the children in foster care, there should be more assistance once the

children get reunified.

The biological parents should have a class on how to raise their child and then give intensive

visits for those working to change their direction of their substance abuse. The children should

not go directly back to the homes, there should be a plan in place for better transition for the

child. The state should give more attention to the conditions of the parent and the conditions of

the child.

The state has done a good job in getting services to the foster care system for the children and the

families. We need to help the traumatic experiences from the children and give better services

and resources. These are the issues that can be solved for the sake of the children. Do not hesitate

to contact me and ask more questions about this issue.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Emilee Butner