Missouri Child-Safety Task Force Drafts Bill to Unify Safety Standards for Caseworkers and Courts, With Recommendations Due November 15
Jefferson City, Missouri — Child welfare workers and courts across Missouri would be required to use the same standards to determine when children are unsafe and what must change before they can return home, under draft legislation discussed on Monday by the 18-member child-safety task force appointed by Governor Mike Kehoe.
The draft bill would amend state law to establish common definitions and practices for Children's Division workers, juvenile officers, judges and guardians ad litem when assessing children's safety and determining next steps, and courts would be required to use the same framework in protective custody and permanency hearings. It would also require the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Office of the State Courts Administrator to develop standard forms for the division's court reports and for social service plans outlining what parents and the division must do to address safety concerns.
The task force was created by executive order to propose a statewide definition of child safety, identify gaps and contradictions in existing laws and policies, and establish processes to put the definitions into practice, with legislative recommendations due November 15. Its creation came amid bipartisan legislative scrutiny of foster care deaths, staff turnover and rising investigation backlogs in the Missouri Children's Division.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 密苏里州议会大厦（Jefferson City）。图：Farragutful，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Photo by Farragutful, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
