State officials grilled over report on missing foster kids

By SUMMER BALLENITNE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri state lawmakers are seeking answers after a federal investigation found that nearly 1,000 foster children went missing in 2019, and at least one was sex-trafficked. A House committee on Tuesday grilled social services administrators. The report says Missouri doesn’t do enough to identify at-risk kids, take steps to prevent them from running away or find them once they go missing. Missouri officials say state workers might have done more to find the children but just didn’t document their efforts. Republican state Rep. Dottie Bailey of Eureka called the report’s findings “disturbing.”