child 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.

Kansas has one proposal to expand capacity for toddlers, but child care providers worry that too many small children supervised by too few adults could threaten safety.

Many of the states that are moving to ban abortion — such as Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma — tend to have less access to health care, worse maternal and infant health care outcomes and weaker social supports for children and families.

Facilities closed down during the pandemic. Those that survived are now struggling to find workers.

Stephanie Grisham worked as White House press secretary for former president Donald Trump. Now, from the town of Plainville, Kansas, she works to make sure Trump doesn't return to public office. Plus, a proposed law in Missouri would allow women who give birth in prison the chance to stay with their newborns.

Lawsuits in Kansas are challenging the state’s new congressional redistricting plan in court, saying the GOP-drawn map violates the state constitution. Plus, election results from around the Kansas City area.

Proposed legislation could make the child abuse investigation process more uniform in Kansas in hopes of better uncovering injuries.

Since July, about 981,000 families in Kansas and Missouri have received monthly child tax credit payments worth hundreds of dollars per kid. But Republican senators in both states say they will not support a bill expanding the credits.