children

The annual child wellness report Kids Count found child poverty has improved in Kansas and Missouri compared to the years before the pandemic. But federal budget cuts could threaten access to food and health assistance for families in need.

Despite no legislative action on boosting Missouri Children's Division starting salaries, Gov. Mike Kehoe says Department of Social Services leaders could soon take action themselves.

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City closed operations at a Head Start center near Swope Park today, after closing three others earlier this month. Officials say staffing levels were insufficient to serve the 289 children enrolled in the program.

A child welfare bill that passed through both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly this week will raise the minimum age for marriage from 16 to 18. House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Platte County, says this will prevent young women from being victimized.

Current law allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental permission if the other party is under 21. Proposals to ban child marriage have failed to pass the Missouri legislature for years; now it just needs the governor's signature to become law.

Hailey was 15 when she learned she was pregnant. After being told abortion wasn’t an option, she became determined to be a mom in the hopes of keeping her daughter from repeating the traumatic childhood in the foster care system that she experienced.

Black people are reported missing in higher numbers than white people relative to their population, according to recent data. Some families believe the newly reinstated Missing Persons Unit of the Kansas City Police Department isn’t doing enough to address that. Plus: How the University of Missouri is handling reports of immigration enforcement authorities picking up college students.

Sara Smith is in her first month as director of the Missouri Children’s Division, which oversees the state’s foster care system and child abuse investigations.

Two dozen states, but not Missouri, have filed suit to block the federal cuts to immunization and other public health programs.

As kindergarten becomes more academically intense, some schools in Wichita are incorporating self-directed free play — known among educators as purposeful play — into the daily schedule as a way to enhance learning and teach social skills.

Utah's governor recently signed a bill into law banning the addition of fluoride into the state's public water systems. City councils in Rolla and Hannibal have proposed banning fluoride in response to unsubstantiated claims from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Under national standards, at least 35% of kids entering foster care should exit with a permanent living situation — whether adoption, guardianship or reunification with family — within one year. But only 12 of Missouri's 114 counties met that goal.