Senate rebellion against top appropriations leaders
Twenty-thousand children with disabilities have become pawns in a fight between the legislature and Governor Nixon. Thousands of low-income Missourians who get tax credits to help pay their rents also...
View ArticleFunding for developmentally disabled, blind still in question on final...
One unresolved issue in this final day of the legislative session is how four programs will be funded, that the legislature tied in its budget to the passage of a bill to repeal a tax credit for...
View ArticleSenators lament exemption in Chloe’s Law (AUDIO)
One of the proposed laws waiting for the governor’s signature could save the lives of hundreds of Missouri newborn children every year. But it has a provision for parents who don’t want to know about...
View ArticleNixon signs two bills dealing with foster care (AUDIO)
Governor Jay Nixon has signed two changes to Missouri foster care provisions into law. One of those extends from 18 to 21 the age at which a child can re-enter foster care upon a petition by a juvenile...
View ArticleMissouri drops one spot in annual evaluation of kids’ quality of life
An annual study comparing the 50 states based on quality of life for children shows Missouri losing ground slightly, overall. This year’s Kids Count report has Missouri slipping from 26 to 27. Policy...
View ArticleGovernor to sign changes to child sex abuse reporting law, ‘Safe Haven Act’
Governor Jay Nixon will sign into law on Tuesday legislation meant to offer more protections to children from sexual abuse and tragic ends. One provision in House Bill 505 changes the way in which a...
View ArticleBackers praise Safe Haven expansion, call for more awareness
Missouri’s Safe Havens for Newborns Act was passed in 2003 and has given parents up to 5 days in a newborn’s life to drop that child off at a fire or police station or hospital, if they decide they...
View ArticleEfficiency Committee questions state handling of child abuse cases
A House Committee on government efficiency is looking into how the Department of Social Services handles child abuse cases. The Interm Committee on Improving Government Responsiveness and Efficiency...
View ArticleFood banks offering multiple programs to help feed kids
The latest Feeding America study says that more than 1 million Missourians are food insecure. That includes more than 22 percent of Missouri’s children. Food banks throughout Missouri offer a backpack...
View ArticleStudy suggests treatment of ear deformity could improve children’s school...
A study by researchers at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis has found that children with hearing loss in one ear due to a certain deformity can struggle in school and...
View ArticleCDC sees decline in some preschool obesity (AUDIO)
The Centers for Disease Control say Missouri is a national leader in the declining rate of obesity among low-income pre-schoolers. Missouri is one of six states in which the obesity rate for these...
View ArticleStudy to explore better reporting of child abuse and neglect deaths
A University of Missouri researcher will spend more than a year looking into better ways to track cases of child neglect and abuse. An estimated 1,700 children die of maltreatment annually in the U.S.,...
View ArticleResearch group warns of toys posing potential dangers
The Missouri Public Interest Group has sent investigators to stores in the state to see what toys are available for sale that aren’t safe for children. Spokesman Alec Sprague wants holiday shoppers to...
View ArticleMother of slain boy from Sandy Hook Elementary urges Missouri parents,...
It’s been one year since the mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut killed 20 children and six educators. The mother of a little boy who was killed that day is asking parents in Missouri...
View ArticleAdvocates worry state Supreme Court ruling could end many abuse investigations
Child welfare advocates are worried about how the state Supreme Court will rule on two cases related to the time it takes to investigate reports of child abuse and neglect. Two lower courts have agreed...
View ArticleLegislation would give child welfare workers more time to investigate abuse...
The state Supreme Court has heard arguments on two cases that could result in pending child abuse investigations being thrown out, and the removal of names from the state’s child abuse and neglect...
View ArticleLegislator: Children’s Division investigators need more and better training
The head of a House subcommittee on child abuse says the top issue he wants to deal with in the 2014 session is how the state’s child welfare caseworkers are trained. Representative Bill Lant’s...
View ArticleAmber alert issued for 6-month-old southwestern Missouri boy
Police in Anderson, Missouri have issued an Amber Alert for a 6-month-old boy believed to have been abducted January 2. Authorities say the child, Mitchell Farris, was taken by his father, 34-year-old...
View ArticleUPDATE: Authorities release picture of missing Southwest Missouri infant
Authorities in the southeast Missouri town of Anderson are still looking for a 6-month-old boy believed to have been abducted by his father, January 2. They have now released a picture of the infant,...
View ArticlePutting a spotlight on poverty (AUDIO)
A coalition of 25 groups calculates one out of every six Missourians is living in poverty and more than one out of every five Missourians in poverty is a child. One in seven Missourians gets food...
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