Arkansas Hashes Out New Law Banning Unmarried Foster Parents

On any given day there are more than 3,700 kids in need of foster homes and only about a thousand possible matches. Brett Kincaid with Arkansas Families First says, "So you have multiple kids in homes. You have kids in group homes and you have kids that just don't have a stable place to go."

Kincaid says it's devastating voters limited the amount of loving foster parents even though they'd be screened like everyone else. "Anybody would have to go through the same background checks that are in place right now. The only arbitrary decision now is that if you have this ring on your hand."

Kincaid says marriage doesn't guarantee you're a good parent and no recent studies show more abuse and neglect in homes with unmarried couples.

Foster parent Christie Erwin says it's about stability. "That can be with a two-parent home, with a mom and a dad; it can be in a single parent home. I know some great single foster parents, but instability and insecurity is not what they need. These children have already experienced that; they experienced loss and grief and they need security."

Erwin has fostered more than 40 kids in 16 years and agrees with Kincaid there's a need for more foster parents, but not to settle for a home with roommates. "It's our job as parents, it's our job as citizens to educate the public about the need for foster families and I think if we do that successfully, we'll have plenty of foster parents," she says.

But Kincaid says they'll be ready to repeal the ban at the ballot box in two years. "Unfortunately it will be two years of kids sitting in foster care when they could be some place else."

Kincaid says the ban applies to all otherwise qualified couples who are not legally married. The measure grew out of a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down a state policy banning gay foster parents.

Married or single family homes have to go through background checks and 27 hours of training to foster children.