By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A St. Joseph state representative says it took extra effort and a different approach to pass child welfare legislation this year.
Rep. Shelia Solon says she had to combine several bills into one package as time ran out in a coronavirus-shortened legislative session.
“Everything had been vetted and sometimes had been years trying to get passed and we got it all put together. It was a bipartisan effort, both sides of the aisle,” Solon tells St. Joseph Post. “It was actually one of the rare cases where the House and the Senate were working hard together to get priorities passed. It really shows that we can get good things done when we all work together.”
Solon says the bill should make a real difference in the lives of Missouri’s 14,000 foster care children. It will require foster children to go to court less often and only when it is determined their presence is needed. Provisions in the bill will allow homeless children to enroll in Medicaid and provides access to mental health care. It also will allow a homeless child to receive a birth certificate at no charge, vital in a job search.
Under the bill, a risk assessment team will be required to determine whether a child should be removed from their home or left with their family. Solon says it is a practice the state once used, but discarded.
The bill also increases transparency and accountability for the Division of Children’s Services.
Time was running out when lawmakers returned to the state Capitol after the coronavirus-required absence. The break in the session threatened numerous bills.
Solon says passing the bill through both chambers when lawmakers returned for the final three weeks of the session proved difficult.
“I don’t want to say I was surprised; I would say grateful, thankful, did a lot of praying, did a lot of behind-the-scenes work to tweak and to change things,” Solon says. “If anybody ever thought it was easy to pass a bill, if they ever knew all of the blood, sweat, tears that go through getting a bill passed, they would be truly amazed. I’m just grateful that we got it passed.”