Clara Bates
Reporter, Missouri IndependentClara Bates covers social services and poverty for The Missouri Independent. She previously wrote for the Nevada Current, where she reported on labor violations in casinos, hurdles facing applicants for unemployment benefits and lax oversight of the funeral industry. She also wrote about vocational education for Democracy Journal. Bates is a graduate of Harvard College and is a Report for America corps member.
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Missouri has removed roughly 136,000 kids from its Medicaid rolls since June 2023. But the state's worst-in-nation processing delays make it difficult to re-enroll — causing many to miss doctor’s appointments and critical prescriptions.
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After a year-and-a-half investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice determined that Missourians suffering with mental illness are “subjected to unnecessary stays in nursing facilities, generally because of a series of systemic failures by the state.”
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The federal government told Missouri it is concerned the state is not doing enough to “achieve and sustain” compliance with federal rules on Medicaid and CHIP. In Missouri, 72% of insurance applications took more than 45 days to process — the worst in the U.S.
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Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment has shrunk by around 200,000 people since last summer, as the state continues the process of undoing a COVID-era pause on eligibility checks.
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Missouri will continue to take millions of dollars in the next year in Social Security benefits and use the money to help pay for foster care. The result is that kids who are orphaned or have disabilities are responsible for paying toward the cost of their care in state custody, while foster kids who are ineligible for those benefits pay nothing.
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The American Rescue Plan funds for students experiencing homelessness must be budgeted by September — so three legislative interns spent this session helping get the word out.
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Under legislation that cleared the Missouri Senate with virtually no opposition earlier this year, marriage would be banned for anyone under 18. Although it passed out of a House committee this week, Republican leaders said it was too late to place the bill on the calendar for debate before the session ends.
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A district court judge rules that Missouri's practices around SNAP benefits — including long call center wait times and a lack of accommodations for those with disabilities — violate federal laws.
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In order to work in Missouri, 14 and 15-year-olds must obtain a certificate from their school, with information from their prospective employer about the job, as well as parental consent and age verification. But a Republican-sponsored bill would eliminate that formal process, and only require a signed permission slip.
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Under current Missouri law, 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to get married, to anyone under the age of 21, with parental consent. The Senate approved legislation that would prohibit issuing a marriage license to anyone younger than 18 under any circumstances.