Erika McGuire
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Coyote Hill, a nonprofit foster care ministry, celebrated its opening Thursday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new $2.6 million facility is located on North Tenth Street in downtown Columbia and aims to provide space for licensing and training new foster families, along with ongoing parent, coaching, advocacy and family support and hosting adoptions and other celebrations.
“Columbia’s new family center is the hub for foster families. We wanted this to be a place for families to gather, receive resources, training and coaching, and just be a safe place for them to come, to get everything they need for their children,” Chief Operating Officer Kari Hopkins said.
According to Coyote Hill, to date it has raised $1.5 million toward its campaign, including a $600,000 donation from the Veterans United Foundation.
According to the Missouri Department of Social Services, as of October there are 11,755 children in the foster care system in Missouri, while 1,671 are waiting to be adopted.
“In the last six years, we have licensed over 300 foster families. We were retaining them over 89%, in the first year of fostering and the best part is that children are not being moved in the homes that we serve.” Hopkins said. “So on average, kids in foster care move two to three times a year. But in Coyote Hill homes, their average length of stay is 360 days.”
According to Hopkins, in Columbia there are about 300 children in foster care and only about 180 homes available for fostering. She said the goal is to get the number down to where it’s more of a one to one ratio.
The majority of foster children Coyote Hill sees is 10-year-old.
“That’s the majority of children we see, are part of sibling groups, and needing, places for more than one child. Which is difficult with the home sizes we have. So I think those are hard,” Hopkins said.
The need for foster placements has increased in Missouri and Hopkins says there are several factors behind it.
“Foster care is universal. Across every country, every state, there’s a need for more foster families because there’s a lot of hurting children. Poverty is really the number one driver, which kind of leads to parental drug use at times,” Hopkins said. “We need more families, to step in and fill the gap. In missouri, we have about 15,000 children in care throughout the state,”
The opening of the new facility comes as President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday afternoon aimed at expanding resources for teens aging out of the foster care system.
Federal standards require at least 35% of youth entering foster care should exit with permanent living situation within one year.
A 2024 quarterly report from the Missouri Department of Social Services found out of Missouri’s 114 counties only 12 met that standard every month between July and September.
Coyote Hill Development Director Joe Knight believes the state is falling behind due to the lack of resources and foster homes.
“Coyote hill we have a 90% retention rate in our foster families after one year versus the national average of 50% retention rate. because most foster children move three times a year an every move creates more trauma,” Knight said.
The trauma can cause major challenges in Missouri’s foster care system, as stability for a child can lack.
“They have to move out of their area to find that home, which just decreases the likelihood that they can reunify or that they’ll have permanency long term it just leads to more trauma,” Knight said.
“It’s going to be hard, there is already trauma there, and it’s going to be a difficult situation even when it’s the best situation,” Knight said. “It’s still hard for a child to move even when it’s a good move. So I think it’s really hard to say yes to that and we don’t need everyone to say yes.”
Hopkins says there are several factors as to why a family may be hesitant to offer their home to foster a child.
“I think there’s a lot of challenges families face when they decide to foster. I think there’s a lot of fear of the unknown. It is inviting trauma into your home but it’s also opening yourself to love like you’ve never loved before and to serve like you’ve serve before,” Hopkins said.
Coyote Hill is collecting donations and says a donation $100 or more receives a 70% Missouri tax credit.
The organization has been operating for 34 years and has licensed and advocated for more than 300 foster families in Columbia, Hannibal, Harrisburg, Jefferson City, Moberly and surrounding areas.
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