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Missouri legislators hope to fully lift felony drug ban from food assistance program
A decade ago, Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that was celebrated as lifting the lifetime ban from food stamp benefits for people with a drug felony on their record. But that legislation created a host of restrictions and requirements to be eligible for and access benefits, modifying the ban rather than eliminating it outright. Now, two Missouri […]
Missouri opts into summer EBT federal food benefits program
Missouri has made the tentative decision to participate in a federal food assistance program for kids, potentially opening the door for millions of dollars in aid through a program called Summer EBT. However, the decision is not binding and Missouri still has to submit a detailed plan to the federal government on how it plans […]
Deadline approaching for Missouri to opt in to federal summer food program
Missouri education and social services officials have not yet made a decision on whether to participate in a federal food assistance program next summer, weighing their ability to execute it after years of administrative challenges and delays. Participating in the program, called Summer EBT, would provide approximately $51.5 million in food benefits to 429,000 Missouri […]
Missouri Supreme Court strikes down law banning sleeping on public land
A wide-ranging bill passed by the state legislature last year banning sleeping on public land was struck down on Tuesday by the Missouri Supreme Court for violating the constitution’s single subject requirement. Missouri lawmakers last year made sleeping on state-owned land a Class C misdemeanor and restricted state funds for combating homelessness. The legislation was […]
Potential federal funding shortfall could mean 27,000 Missourians lose food aid
Around 27,000 Missourians who rely on a federal nutrition program for infants, young children, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers could see benefits eliminated next year unless Congress increases funding. That’s according to a recent report from the D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which estimates that two million people nationally could […]
Missouri Supreme Court weighs whether crimes against children should sever parental rights
Missouri’s highest court this week heard arguments over the constitutionality of a two-year-old state law terminating parental rights following a conviction for certain crimes against children. The case, heard Wednesday by the state Supreme Court, involves a Jefferson County father whose parental rights were terminated after he pled guilty to child molestation and sexual misconduct […]
285 Missourians waiting in jails to be moved to hospitals for mental health services
There are 285 people in Missouri jails waiting to be moved to state psychiatric hospitals for treatment, the Department of Mental Health told lawmakers Monday. There were 229 people waiting for treatment in March, 253 in September, 260 in October and 272 in November. These individuals were arrested, deemed unfit to stand trial and ordered […]
Missouri education board approves emergency rule freeing up money to expand child care
Missouri’s Board of Education changed a rule on Tuesday that had prevented many child care providers from accessing the $26 million in grant funding allocated by lawmakers this year. The grant money was set aside for community-based child care providers to expand access to pre-kindergarten but included certification requirements that shrank the pool of eligible […]
Missouri child welfare agency reports increased efforts to find missing foster kids
A state investigative team has helped locate 628 foster kids this year who were missing from state custody in Missouri, state lawmakers were informed at a House budget hearing Monday. That effort began officially in 2022, after the Department of Social Services was under fire for the high number of children in foster care who […]
Missouri attorney general opposes proposed federal rule supporting LGBTQ foster kids
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey this week joined with 18 other states to oppose a proposed federal rule that aims to protect LGBTQ youth in foster care and provide them with necessary services. The attorneys general argue in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that the proposed rule — which […]
Missouri participation rate in benefits program WIC was among lowest nationally in 2021
Missouri has one of the lowest participation rates for a federal program that provides food for low-income women and young children, a recent report found. The report, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services, also noted that Missouri is one of 17 states with “coverage rates consistently lower than national rates across […]
Missouri Supreme Court weighs state’s push to defund Planned Parenthood
The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments over whether the state’s move to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements was constitutional — the second time in three years the issue has reached the state’s highest court. After the state legislature voted to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements last year, the organization […]