Foster Care

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey claims the proposal amounts to religious discrimination. But the state's child welfare agency already supports using preferred pronouns and other resources, even if they don't align with a foster parent's personal beliefs.

Only 16 investigators are looking into child abuse and neglect claims in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The head of the Missouri Children’s Division says that number should be closer to 60.

Legislation directs social services, mental health departments to collaborate on solutions to clients being boarded in medical and mental health facilities ‘without medical justification’

A nonprofit organization aims to recruit Black families in the St. Louis region to foster children in culturally competent homes.

An investigation by the Illinois Answers Project found that insurance giant Centene Corp. routinely fell short in providing basic care. Federal officials now want answers.

There were 1,780 instances of foster kids going missing in Missouri over a two-and-a-half year period.

In southern Illinois, many families suspected of neglect cycle through the child welfare system. Too often they don’t get the help they need.

The Missouri Department of Social Services’ Children’s Division has come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers for low morale, low pay and high vacancies of caseworkers, which has led to caseworkers being assigned far more cases than they can handle.

The Scott County Republican also discussed why she supports a special session to bar companies from requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

During the tenure of Jennifer Tidball, the Department of Social Services faced criticism over its handling of reports of abuse and neglect at unlicensed youth residential facilities, and its failure to report missing foster kids.