In most Missouri counties, children linger in foster care longer than the federal standard, according to data compiled by the state social services agency.
Under national standards, at least 35% of kids entering foster care should exit with a permanent living situation within one year. That can mean reunification with family, adoption or guardianship.
But only 12 of Missouri鈥檚 114 counties met that standard every month between July and September last year.
罢丑补迟鈥檚 the Missouri Department of Social Services is required to release on a quarterly basis. A mandated those reports and created a 鈥渞esponse and evaluation鈥� team tasked with reviewing state foster care practices. The team, which includes Children鈥檚 Division staff and foster care case management agency staff, met Tuesday.
In the previous , covering April through June, there were 23 counties meeting that benchmark.
Missouri鈥檚 Children鈥檚 Division is acting under a with the federal Children鈥檚 Bureau over the issue of timely permanent placements. The state鈥檚 performance 鈥渉as continued to decline over the last several reporting periods,鈥� a from last summer states.
While in care, foster kids have also faced more instability with their placements than nationally, meaning they can be frequently moved around among foster homes or other placements.
Marcia Wetzel, a program coordinator with the social services department, said during Tuesday鈥檚 public meeting that a plan is in the works to establish what are called team decision-making meetings statewide before a foster child is moved to a new placement.
involve those closest to the child and a facilitator. There will be training before it鈥檚 rolled out in each region across the state, Wetzel said, with the expectation that the meetings 鈥渉opefully will help us improve the data鈥o really try to stabilize placements.鈥�
As of , for every 1,000 days a child spent in foster care in Missouri, they were moved 6.23 times. The federal rate was 4.48. Wetzel said more data will come out related to this issue in April.
According to the department鈥檚 team decision-making meetings have been implemented in some parts of the state and will be expanding statewide.
Missouri鈥檚 foster care system has faced scrutiny for years and is a of the 2025 legislative session.
A sponsored by Sen. Travis Fitzwater of Holts Summit seeks to reduce the amount of time foster children languish in care by changing the model of legal representation for them. Under the proposal, older foster children would be assigned client-director counsel, who act based on the child鈥檚 own wishes and goals. Currently, foster children have guardians ad litem, who are attorneys tasked with acting in what they view as the child鈥檚 best interest, which Fitzwater said means children are sometimes left without a voice, drawing out their time in care.
Lawmakers are also concerned with foster kids being held in inappropriate placements, such as hospitals, hotels, offices and out-of-state residential treatment facilities.
There are around 85 kids receiving treatment out of state, according to department data shared at an appropriations hearing. And last year, there were 314 foster children residing in hospitals.
Issues with foster care of Gov. Mike Kehoe鈥檚 pick to lead the social services department. State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican, briefly held up the appointment to force the agency to provide answers about chronic problems that have plagued the foster care system for years and what she says has been the agency鈥檚 failure to implement laws designed to help.
Bax was eventually confirmed after Coleman to her inquiries.
This story was originally published by the , part of the States Newsroom.
