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Kansas City schools still need help feeding students

Schools across Kansas City were able to provide meals for thousands of children during the pandemic, but districts fear that federal help will end soon. Plus, how early pandemic layoffs in Missouri’s Department of Social Services impacted the care of abused and neglected children.

Kansas City Public Schools serve over 10,000 lunches each day. When the pandemic struck and schools shifted to online learning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved waivers that let schools better feed students. But that pandemic aid is set expire soon after Congress failed to include an extension in its latest spending bill. KCUR's Jodi Fortino reports on how this could affect kids across Kansas City.

In 2020, Missouri’s Department of Social Services laid off 200 of its Children’s Division employees. Two years later, the department is still dealing with staffing shortages and overworked personnel. Jackson County CASA president Angie Blumel spoke about the effects on KCUR's Up To Date.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
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