child care

Refugees coming to Kansas City often need to learn how to drive in order to get a job or go to school. One Congolese man is stepping up to teach his fellow compatriots. Plus: Despite the fact that child care can cost more than a mortgage in Kansas, providers say they can barely afford to stay open.

Child care is expensive for families, yet it doesn't bring in enough money for providers to grow or pay workers high wages. Kansas is at a crossroads.

Two separate audits of the Kansas foster care system have found troubling trends in child welfare. After a 2018 lawsuit, which alleged that foster kids moved around so much they were essentially homeless, the state agreed to improve on a handful of metrics. But years later, the situation is just as bad — and in some cases, worse.

The increased reimbursement rate will go to child care providers who accept a subsidy to increase access for low-income and foster families.

Successfully completing drug addiction treatment becomes more complicated when parents need to find child care for their children. That means some Kansans parents never go into treatment. Plus: Despite several GOP lawmakers saying they have no interest in pursuing restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults, transgender Missourians are bracing for more limits on their rights.

Applicants to the state child care subsidy program often face long call center wait times and onerous paperwork requirements — and child care providers who accept the subsidy face administrative hurdles of their own.

An investigation by The Missouri Independent and MuckRock found that despite hundreds of millions in federal pandemic relief money pouring into the state, child care facilities are facing huge staffing shortages and parents are struggling with long waitlists for care.

In addition to proposing cuts to the lawmakers' priorities, Missouri House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, wants to cut all aid to libraries in retaliation for a lawsuit challenging a new state law.

The child care gap across the country is more than 30%, meaning the need for quality child care far outweighs the supply — and it's worse in rural areas.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says improvements to Interstate 70 and expanded access to child care for working families are his top priorities this year.

After a fight drew police to Winnwood Skate Center, the Northland rink had to adopt a new policy requiring every child under 18 to have a chaperone. Now the owner is worried about leaving kids behind.

Child care businesses are struggling to recruit new employees and retain staff. The Missouri chamber is touting its Chamber Benefit Plan, a novel health insurance project, to lower health insurance costs for providers and entice them to offer coverage to their employees.