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200,000 Missourians estimated to lose Medicaid as eligibility renewals resume
The director of Missouri’s Medicaid program said he expects “about 200,000” Medicaid enrollees to lose coverage over the course of a year as a result of the state resuming annual eligibility renewals after a three-year pause. The state’s Department of Social Services has not previously provided a public estimate of those projected to lose coverage. […]
Missouri child welfare agency pitches plan to ‘rebuild’ overburdened foster care system
The director of Missouri’s child welfare agency told lawmakers this week that the state has “effectively legally orphanized” around 1,500 children. Those children have had their legal ties to their biological parents severed — by a court, in what’s called termination of parental rights — but the social services agency had no adoptive parents ready […]
Missouri lawmakers make bipartisan push to extend postpartum care for new moms
Lawmakers debated on Wednesday a bipartisan push to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage for low-income Missourians from 60 days to one year — among the first public hearings of the 2023 legislative session.
Missouri lawmakers vow to expand child care access. Governor’s speech may lay out the plan
A major area of bipartisan agreement among Missouri lawmakers this year is improving access to affordable child care. And on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Mike Parson is expected to lay out his vision for addressing what some legislators have framed as a child care crisis in Missouri. Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, told reporters […]
Advocates, providers scramble as Missouri’s new homelessness law goes into effect
Audra Youmans says most people living on the streets of St. Louis have nowhere else to go. As a volunteer and advocate with St. Louis Winter Outreach, she made over 40 calls to the city’s referral service for homeless shelters last year — recording and compiling a video to demonstrate the problem. “Every single time […]
Agape Boarding School will close its doors this month after years of abuse allegations
Agape Boarding School, the Stockton-based Christian residential facility under scrutiny for alleged abuse of its students over decades, announced it will shut down Jan. 20. According to a statement provided to The Independent Wednesday afternoon by John Schultz, an attorney for Agape, the school has “made the decision to stop providing services to the boys […]
Some Missourians could lose Medicaid coverage as eligibility renewals restart April 1
Missouri’s social services department will resume conducting Medicaid eligibility renewals on April 1 — allowing the state to once again remove people from its rolls after a three-year pause during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Since March 2020, states have been barred from removing enrollees from Medicaid during the federally-declared public health emergency in exchange […]
‘Emotional roller coaster’: Delays in effort to shut down Agape dishearten former students
When he read the news back in September that Missouri had moved to shut down Agape Boarding School, Allen Knoll felt a sense of vindication. ”For me personally,” he said, “but also for current victims.” It was over a year and a half after Knoll had traveled to Missouri from Washington state to testify in […]
Federal spending bill ensures one year continuous coverage for Missouri kids in Medicaid, CHIP
Missouri will be required to provide year-long, continuous coverage for anyone under age 19 enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as part of a $1.7 trillion spending package approved by Congress Friday. In a move advocates have long pushed for as a way to avoid unnecessarily forcing children off the rolls, all […]
Judge grants injunction keeping longtime Agape director off Missouri child abuse registry
Agape Boarding School’s longtime director once again won a court order Wednesday keeping his name off Missouri’s central registry for child abuse and neglect. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Brian Stumpe granted Bryan Clemensen’s request for a preliminary injunction against Missouri’s Department of Social Services on Wednesday morning, the second time Clemensen has won a […]
Missouri awards over $40 million in low-income housing tax credits
The Missouri Housing Development Commission has approved over $40 million worth of federal and state tax credits to help developers build 1,791 low-income housing units around the state. In a meeting last week, the commission agreed to issue half the credits on an accelerated basis — the second year they’ve adopted the approach, which proponents […]
Longtime Agape director testifies in Missouri court to stay off child abuse registry
The former director of Agape Boarding School pleaded with a Cole County judge on Monday to keep himself off the state’s central registry of child abuse and neglect so he can keep working with children. Bryan Clemensen was the long-time director of the Stockton-based reform school for troubled boys until last month, he testified Monday. […]