SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Missouri says its child welfare system does not have one universally accepted definition of the word “safe.” Gov. Mike Kehoe’s new task force has until Nov. 15 to recommend one.
The definition can determine whether a child stays home or enters foster care.
Task force to draw line between risk and danger
Greene County Chief Juvenile Officer Bill Prince said the task force must determine when risk becomes an unsafe situation.
“Do kids come out of the home because it’s a risky situation, or do kids come out of the home because it’s an unsafe situation? And I think coming up with a line to distinguish those two,” Prince said.
Prince is one of 18 people Kehoe appointed to the task force. He said Greene County had 795 children in care as of Monday, and that poverty alone is not neglect.
Missouri can write one definition of safety, but it cannot write one story that fits every child. The task force’s challenge is giving courts and caseworkers a common starting point without losing sight of the individual child.
CASA recalls case where concerns were raised
CASA of Southwest Missouri serves about 500 children in foster care each year across Greene, Christian and Taney counties.
Executive Director Laura Farmer recalled a case in which a volunteer kept raising concerns about a child’s placement.
“But the team finally did listen to those concerns. And they did discover that that child was being hurt in that home and subsequently then moved into a different placement,” Farmer said.
Farmer said a common definition will need training and resources, while still giving children and survivors a voice.
“Kids, no matter their age, can tell us what they’re wanting and what they’re feeling. We just have to listen,” Farmer said.
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