Fostering Hope Book for Children
In Northwest Arkansas, there are 590 children in foster care but only 263 foster or adoptive homes.
“So that leaves about three hundred and twenty seven that are either in emergency shelters or congregate care,” said Jaime Reinen, a supervisor with the Division of Human and Family Services.
Reinen said statistics show kids who spend time with foster families have better outcomes.
“They’re more likely to graduate high school, they’re more likely to go to college, and there’s a less likely rate that they’ll become homeless after they exit foster care,” Reinen explained.
“We thought we’ve got space, we’ve got the energy, we can do this and so we just wanted to be a part of the solution,” Krout said.
Kelly Krout wanted to do more so she wrote and published a book about a child in foster care.
“A lot of kids feel isolated like nobody else’s story is like mine, all the other kids just go home to their parents, and so I wanted to write books that kids could see themselves in,” Krout added.
