(Okoboji)– U.S. Senator Joni Ernst made a number of stops in the region today (Monday) including one in Okoboji. The Senator visited Good News Community Church, which hosts a local foster care and adoption organization known as “Kings and Queens Local” and “Kaden’s Kloset”. Ernst was informed of a number of challenges facing foster families, and those who want to become foster parents…
“We know that families need support. We know that there are children who will go through difficult times as they’re being moved maybe into the foster care situation. And we need to provide those supports but what we also need to do is address the issues that lead to these adverse reactions where we have to remove children from homes. So whether that’s physical abuse, substance abuse, or any other number of issues, we’ve got to be able to break that in those families and really develop and kind of heal some of these families, make them healthy and whole again, and that’s going to take a whole of society approach.”
Ernst also addressed concerns she heard about licensing and stipends for foster care…
“That is an issue, so that’s something that we can look at. But yeah, if you’re non-licensed you get half the stipend that someone’s that’s licensed would. The licensing to become a foster family is 11 weeks and that’s a significant amount of time to spend in training. It is necessary that people are trained appropriately, especially with children that might have behavioral issues, come from traumatic experiences, but it’s unfortunate though that those families don’t receive the same level of allowance.”
Earlier in the day Monday Ernst visited Primghar where she heard from local law enforcement about drug trafficking…
“They are seeing more and more fentanyl affecting our communities. They talked, of course, about counterfeit drugs that are hitting the markets, often laced with fentanyl; the delivery method of how it’s getting into the United States. It is trafficked it in by the drug cartels through Mexico and they were very outspoken about the open border situation and how this is creating difficulties not just in the border states but in these states that are connected by the interstates. And they did say that Iowa State Patrol is doing an exceptional job at interdicting drugs on the interstates, but the drug cartels are becoming much smarter and their distributors are kind of going off the beaten path now and maybe using places like Highway 20 and other roads maybe where you aren’t finding as many state patrol personnel on.”
Ernst said she’s co-authored a bill with Senator Marco Rubio that would make drug traffickers liable for any overdose deaths that are related to fentanyl.
Ernst also Monday made stops in Sibley and Estherville.
