BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Idaho’s foster care system is in crisis. Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reports 46 children were transferred to private facilities out of state last year, some as far away as Florida.
The main contributing factor is a lack of foster homes and care needed to treat Idaho children. One local couple is doing all they can to help, fostering more than 16 children.
"There's a huge need right now for foster parents, specifically for parents that are interested in fostering teens or sibling groups," said foster mom Ally Stahl.
Stahl says providing a loving and stable environment for a child can make a huge impact on their life.
"Kids who end up in foster care, especially the ones who are kind of bounced around from home to home, do end up as part of what we call 'the cycle' and a lot of them end up, you know, where their kids end up in foster care, and their kids' kids end up in foster care, and it just perpetuates unless we intervein and provide that family unit with what they need," said Stahl.
Stahl says the state currently has several short-term rentals they provide, which are essentially glorified Airbnb's, for kids to stay in because there's nowhere for them to go. Her husband, Zachary Stahl, says fostering has changed their family in the best way and it could do the same for you.
"It is not an easy calling and thing to do, but it is incredibly worth it," said foster dad Zachary Stahl. "It's exciting and worthwhile to be part of something that's much bigger than yourself and to be able to open up your home and take a risk and bring a child into your home that just needs a safe and loving environment. I think that's something that a lot of people are more equipped to do than they believe."
The goal of fostering a child is reunification with their family. While not required by any means, sometimes when reunification is not possible, foster families adopt. Zachary and Ally Stahl say they ended up adopting two of their foster children.
"Honestly it was kind of a case-by-case thing for us," said Ally Stahl. "We were really hoping that the kiddos were going to be able to reunify with biological family, and it just wasn't something that was going to work out and so we were asked to adopt and we of course we said yes, and we would we would continue to say yes."
Zachary Stahl says their faith has played a big role in their decision to foster and ultimately adopt.
"I'm a Christian and so I believe that, you know, true religion, as the Bible says, is to take care of widows and orphans," said Stahl. "I know that foster kiddos aren't necessarily orphans, but they have a time of being separated from their parents and so during that time, one of the best things that I can do is to provide them a safe and loving home."
Ally Stahl says this experience has helped their family grow.
"It would have been really easy to stay in our own little bubble with our own stuff that we had going on, but being able to open up our home, also opened up our eyes to see a need that is greater than ourselves and to see things that other people go through and the hardest points of their life and to be able to try to be a light in that, at least to the best of our ability," said Stahl. "I really feel like we've grown as a family, our marriage has grown."
The Stahls say they recommend giving fostering a go.
"I would say, for folks that are on the fence, dig into yourself and dig into your community and find the grit to do it because even if you can help one kiddo have a safe home for a very difficult time in their lives, that is absolutely worth any kind of discomfort that you could go through," saidZachary Stahl.
If you'd like to learn more about becoming a foster parent, click here.
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