Iowa KidsNet is the organization that's charged with recruiting, training, licensing, and supporting foster and adoptive families here in Iowa. The group was in the news last week and advocating for a special population of foster kids -- LGBT teens. Turns out that
LGBT teens disproportionately end up in foster care in Iowa:
Iowa Kids Net says there are a disproportionate number of LGBT teens in foster care. Less than 10 percent of the American population identifies as Lesbian, Gay, bi-sexual or transgender. But 20 percent of teens who are in foster care say they're LGBT. Iowa Kids Net says it's something that's happening in homes throughout Iowa. "Typically if it's a situation where the parent is saying, "I don't agree with this", then you're going to have behaviors out of the child because of that conflict. Then at that point something erupts to require DHS involvement," said Iowa Kids Net’s Christa Hefel. That's when the LGBT child ends up in the foster care system.
Iowa KidsNet has begun including a video featuring a gay foster kid named Randy in its foster parent training sessions. They are hoping to recruit more foster families who are ready and prepared to take in LGBT foster kids.
