Tres McCullon cleans the chocolate-chip cookie dough out of the beaters of his aunt, Lori Stoll’s, electric mixer, on Monday. McCullon stayed with Lori and Barry Stoll for a summer. The Stolls frequently take in children in need, adding to their family of five. They currently are fostering five Vietnamese-American children. ¦ ELISA DAY
COLUMBIA — The Stoll family has a full table for Christmas, with four biological children and six foster children home for the holidays.
The faces at their table have shifted a lot over the years. Since 2002, Lori and Barry Stoll have taken in at least 15 foster children. Currently, they have a biological son and five foster children, all siblings, living at home.
“It’s a honor and a privilege to serve these kids and to help them be a family,” Lori Stoll said. “That’s the reason we took in these five. They’re all siblings, and they need to be together.”
She is a board member of Hope Chest for Kids, a mid-Missouri organization dedicated to helping foster families. During tough economic times, Hope Chest and the Boone County foster care system have their work cut out for them.
They are dealing with an increase in children, a decrease in foster families and almost the lowest reimbursement rates for foster parents in the nation. Missouri ranks 49 among the 50 states in what is paid for foster care.
The Stolls’ five foster children are among 9,388 in Children’s Division’s custody across the state, up from 9,244 a year ago. These children are either in foster care or live in the home of a relative.
Missouri has 2,183 foster homes, excluding relatives’ homes, down from 2,345 homes last year. Foster children are living in 1,481 of those homes.
Boone County has 166 children in foster care and 57 foster homes, compared to 72 last year.
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