By late afternoon on Sept. 25, Missouri’s Children’s Division was struggling to find enough workers to respond to reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. According to an email obtained by The Independent, every available worker had been assigned at least three reports, yet 29 reports across 20 counties remained unassigned.  Fifteen of those reports […]

Missouri child welfare workers and courts would be required to use the same standards to determine when children are unsafe and what must change before they can return home under draft legislation being developed by a state task force. The proposal, discussed Monday by the 18-member task force appointed by Gov. Mike Kehoe, aims to […]