Kehoe Signs Executive Order Creating Child Welfare Task Force: Unified Statewide Safety Standards Recommendations Due by November 15
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed Executive Order 26-17 in Jefferson City on October 22, creating the Missouri Child Welfare Task Force to develop a unified set of safety standards and recommendations for the state's child welfare system and strengthen coordination across its components.
According to the governor's office, task force members come from the Department of Social Services' Children's Division, the courts and juvenile justice agencies, law enforcement, the state legislature, private service providers, attorneys, advocates and child welfare experts. Its specific charges include: establishing benchmark definitions and clear standards for determining whether a child is safe; reviewing current statutes, regulations, Children's Division policies and court rules to find gaps and recommend alignment; recommending ways to embed policy requirements into day-to-day child welfare practice; designing cross-disciplinary training for caseworkers, supervisors, attorneys, juvenile officers, judges and law enforcement; and establishing unified quality assurance measures and metrics to monitor consistent implementation statewide.
Kehoe said protecting Missouri's most vulnerable children is one of state government's most important responsibilities, and that those who do this work should follow clear, consistent standards in every agency, every courtroom and every community. Department of Social Services Director Jess Bax said every decision in the child welfare system can change a child's life, and the standards guiding those decisions should not vary by the county, circuit or provider a child happens to be in.
The executive order requires the task force to submit its recommendations by November 15, 2026, to the governor, the Senate president pro tem, the House speaker and the chief justice of the state supreme court, in preparation for the 104th General Assembly convening in January 2026; the task force will dissolve on December 31, 2026.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: GSM 行政令统一模板（密苏里州州长行政令）
