SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– Foster parent training takes more than two months, Missouri legislator Hannah Kelly is hoping to change that.

“I often receive calls as a licensed foster parent in my district saying ‘hey Hannah can you help us out here?’,” Kelly said. “And it’s because there’s never enough foster parent homes to serve the need whether it be short or long-term.

Kelly herself is a foster parent and she said she put 27 hours of training into just three Saturdays.

“It can be anything from respite which means a weekend stay just to give the main caregiver a break,” Kelly said. “Or maybe a week stay for a child who may has been acting out.”

Kelly says if she had to take a long course, she wouldn’t be a foster parent today. She wants a faster training session to help busy parents. This training program is called a pilot program.

“The need for parents are great. Legislative change, favoritization of training and all of this, it takes time,” Kelly said.

Kelly claims some parents don’t foster because it takes nine weeks to go through training and become a foster parent. This has helped lead to a foster parent shortage in Missouri.

She said this is a problem she constantly hears about.