Missouri Children’s Division Archives

Missouri panel works to find out why boarding school abuse allegations have fallen through the cracks

April 8, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The work of the Missouri Children’s Division is being reviewed after abuse allegations involving several faith-based boarding schools went under the public’s radar for years. An investigation by the Kansas City Star has found students at some of these places have been beaten, raped, starved, restrained, and isolated.

Missouri Capitol (Photo by Alisa Nelson)

Some former students have made the allegations against Agape Boarding School and Legacy Boys Academy in Stockton, Masters Ranch in far southern Missouri, and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville.

Circle of Hope closed last month after the owners were charged with 102 total felonies in connection with abuse allegations. They remain in jail without bond.

Missouri and South Carolina are the only states in the nation with an exemption to allow religious boarding schools to go unchecked. The state House has passed a bipartisan bill that would regulate these schools.

Representatives Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville, and Keri Ingle, D-Kansas City, are sponsoring the legislation. It would require safety inspections, background checks for all employees, and the schools must notify the state of their existence. The measure would also give the Missouri Department of Social Services and courts more power to investigate child abuse in the schools. The proposal has not yet been assigned to a Senate committee.

During a Missouri House Government Oversight Committee hearing, Representative Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, referred to a Children’s Division organizational chart provided to the committee.

“This bureaucracy – this red tape – this is why people hate government. Right here. Right here. People hate government because of this. I hate government many days because of that,” said Bailey. “This organizational chart is so middle-heavy, top-heavy, whatever you want to call it. So, we need people on the ground and the information needs to flow. When you have this information, it isn’t going to flow. When we need boots on the ground and we’ve got 60 managers managing each other, we have problems. The bulk of the staff is in offices – why? Why aren’t boots on the ground taking care of these kids and I go back to how we all got here. And I guess I actually answer my own question – how does something like Circle of Hope happen? Well, I just look at the organizational structure.”

Acting Director Jennifer Tidball, with the Missouri Department of Social Services, said she agrees there are not enough boots on the ground and there is work being done to address the organizational structure.

Tidball said the state has about 1,200 caseworkers. In fiscal year 2020, Missouri’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline fielded about 154,000 calls.

Representative Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, the chairman of the committee, asked why the department has not informed lawmakers about the problems at these unlicensed schools sooner. Tidball pointed to a number of factors, including not wanting to “repeat” how Heartland Christian Academy was handled.

In 2001, Heartland was raided after reports of abuse. Some 100 students were removed from the location but were allowed to return days later. Five employees were charged but all were either acquitted or had charges dropped. Missouri ended up settling the court case.

She said others, like the courts and juvenile officers, are also involved in abuse and neglect investigations. Tidball said at times staff are hesitant to upset that balance.

Tidball said she could have done more to find out about the problems, but partially blamed the department’s organizational structure.

“Should I have dug deeper? Should I have known more about what was going on in the Children’s Division? I can take responsibility for that. But I think that part of it is you had people that were following chain of command. It wasn’t getting up to me,” she said.

Representative J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, questioned Tidball if workers are retaliated against for talking to legislators.

“They do have the freedom – if you go to them and say, ‘How’s it going in the department?’ Absolutely and I know that happens because I will hear from legislators around what they are hearing in their districts and we sit down and talk about that. But there’s no retaliation for that. That’s their right to be able to do that as a citizen and as a state employee,” said Tidball.

“We had heard otherwise,” said Eggleston. “We had heard that, ‘No. You are not to be talking to legislators. You need to send them up.’ Really, the only three people that we could interact with in the department, is you three right here.”

Tidball says they have the freedom to talk to lawmakers, but they cannot mention confidential information. She said she will email workers to make clear what they can and cannot say or do.

Representative Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, said she and other members of the Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect have received emails from boots on the ground fearing retaliation.

“They weren’t speaking of specific cases – more about the management style and approach, the threats where they either A, feel that they have been retaliated against for saying, ‘Hey we missed something or trying to insist on having a more in-depth look at a particular issue within a case and have been retaliated against or in just udder and complete fear,” she said. “It’s one thing to sort of give the, ‘Hey this is okay.’ And then the individuals who in charge of managing particular the boots on the ground, in the home people, still taking that strong-arm approach to not talking to legislators is extremely problematic. I just want everybody under the sound of my voice to know that they are going to do it anyway.”

Tidball told Proudie to send her the complaints – without names attached.

“I think making clear what the department policy, then that puts us in a position to deal with managers who aren’t following it – from an HR perspective,” said Tidball.

Proudie said any supervisors who are using this approach are also breaking Missouri’s Whistleblower law.

Taylor’s office says the committee plans to hold a hearing next week for the public to offer testimony. The date and time are still being finalized.

Legislative effort to crack down on Missouri boarding schools after mounting claims of abuse and neglect

February 11, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri and South Carolina are the only states in the nation that do not regulate faith-based boarding schools for youth. The secret is out and several of these schools have packed up and moved to Missouri to carry on their business of alleged neglect as well as sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of students.

Colton Schrag (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

After an investigation by The Kansas City Star, the accusations have caught the attention of two state lawmakers. Representatives Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville, and Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, have filed legislation that could keep tabs on youth residential homes, including faith-based ones.

The allegations have even made their way to Dateline NBC. The television show will air a segment tonight at 9 p.m. CST about the legislative effort.

During a House committee hearing Wednesday about the bills, former students from across the country talked about getting beaten and being starved. Some said they were restrained for hours and others said they were put in isolation for days or even months. They recounted some students getting forced to eat their own vomit.

Colton Schrag says he was physically abused and barely fed while living at Agape Boarding School in southwest Missouri’s Stockton.

“I don’t know how a kid has not died in your state in these schools that exist because I can list three schools – Masters Ranch, Legacy Boys Academy, Agape Boarding School, Circle of Hope – where I was abused by all four of those staff members that worked at Agape and eventually left and started their own school here,” he says. “In the state of Missouri at Agape Boarding School, there is 165 students that woke up an hour ago that are forced to stand on the wall, eat cereal while other kids are eating pancakes, they’re forced to physical workouts until they puke. They may even be getting restrained as we speak. The restraints at Agape Boarding School result in kids getting picked up over the head and slammed into walls. I’ve seen kids put through walls. I’ve been put through a wall. Kids are getting slammed on tile, concrete, and asphalt.”

Allen Knoll (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

Allen Knoll also attended Agape from ages 13 to 15.

“I was that boy standing on the wall. I was that boy restrained for two months straight – every single day. That was me because sometimes I didn’t want to go to church,” he says. “This cannot be the end – this can be the start. I am adamantly opposed to regulating religious programs and I really do believe strongly that they should have a separation of state and church. But I also believe in the civil rights of these children. I do want to say that the abuse and the trauma that I went through had a tremendous impact on my life. I made terrible, poor decisions. I suffered from depression, anxiety. I still suffer from those things. I have learned to deal with them. Through all the things of not learning how to live properly and being forced and beaten in these programs, I didn’t make the best choices. This state failed me. The state of Mississippi failed me. I’m still here today. I’m being that voice. Let’s not let somebody else come up here in ten years and have to say, ‘Why did you fail me.’”

Emily Adams says she had attended the Bethesda Home for Girls in the state of Mississippi for about 17 months.

Emily Adams (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

“My abusers were closed down a year after I left,” she says. “The Bethesda Home for Girls was raided by the FBI and finally shut down. Guess where they came y’all? They came here. They opened up Mountain Park in Patterson. So can you please, please, please help the kids now. No more survivors. No more, please.”

Amanda O’Brien says her parents opened the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in southwest Missouri’s Humansville. She says she was forced to restrain her friends for hours and some girls did not leave after they became adults.

“They were told if you left, the people in the town would either shoot you for being on their property because of the law in Missouri, shoot first ask questions later, or they were told that animals would get them, or they were told that they would just be prostitutes,” says O’Brien.

She recalls one girl with a mental disability was there for 13 years. The victim left last year – at the age of 30.

O’Brien was kicked out when she was seventeen years old.

Shelva Thomas-Jackson says she paid $42,000 for her son to attend Masters Ranch Christian Academy in southern Missouri’s Couch.

“Every day, I fight for him not to give up because I refuse for him to be a statistic and let David Bosley and Masters Ranch or any other of these places get away with hurting kids. I have been hurt and know what it’s like to be sexually abused and be hurt by people you trust. Hurt people hurt people,” she says. “And if you don’t stop it, if nothing changes, nothing is ever going to change and you are going to have recidivism everywhere. Do something, please!”

These schools can be hard to find because they are often located in the middle of nowhere. Under the legislation, they must notify the state of their existence, and provide medical records for all residents. It would require background checks for all employees and volunteers. The schools would have to undergo certain safety inspections.

Reps. Rudy Viet and Keri Ingle (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

“There’s not one thing we’re asking them to do that a good business person would not do,” says Representative Viet. “I don’t care if you are a religious facility or not – you would do these things. So right now, we are the go-to place if you want to run a facility, unregulated, and do unreligious type activity.”

In cases of suspected abuse or neglect or failure to comply with regulations, the state could request an injunction or restraining order to stop operations or remove children from the site. The bills would not allow the state to go in and mess with any religious curriculum the schools might offer.

“We are both strong proponents of faith and faith has the power to change people. But faith can’t be used as an excuse to abuse and neglect children. They were absolutely neglected and abused in every way. There was no one looking out for them,” says Representative Ingle. “Oftentimes, they would run away. When they engaged with law enforcement, law enforcement would take them back to facilities where facilitators would say, ‘Well, these children are liars. This didn’t really happen. They are bad kids.’ I’m here to tell you in my professional experience that when you label a kid as troubled or bad, people tend to not believe them, which makes them even more likely to be victimized. The state has absolutely zero way of knowing these facilities are in existence. I could have one of these facilities in my basement with unlimited children right now with zero regulation from the state – at all. We don’t know about the existence of these facilities until unfortunately something bad happens.”

Ingle has a long history in the child welfare system.

Jessica Seitz with Missouri KidsFirst, a state network of child advocacy centers, says the legislation is long overdue.

“This legislation would help us know where these facilities are, be able to check on kids, and if necessary, shut them down. We’ve got to protect children and ensure our state is not a hospitable place for predators,” Seitz says.

Kelly Schultz, director of the Missouri Office of Child Advocate, says calls the legislation “notification”, not licensure.

“This is state versus people hurting kids and giving us the bare minimum of what we need to do to protect children in the state of Missouri,” she says. “I read cases all day long. I talk about child abuse, neglect, and fatalities all day long. I’m usually not the butterfly when I come in and testify. I’m not warm and fuzzy in this committee. It turns my stomach to see what I read and I think the only thing that turns my stomach even more is somebody doing this in the name of God because not only do we have trauma and abuse and neglect, but that threatens to separate a child from God for eternity.”

Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, questioned if background checks on some of these operators would have yielded any criminal history.

“It is also a check of the Family Care Safety Registry. One of the places that was specifically stated today and has been reported in the press by The Kansas City Star, the individual had four preponderance of evidence findings, which would have placed them on the Family Care Safety Registry. So, that would have been caught,” says Schultz.

Emily van Schenkhof, executive director at Missouri Children’s Trust Fund, says the hearing was probably one of the most painful hearings she has listened to.

“The stories today have just broken my heart and have left me feeling embarrassed and ashamed of our state that we did not correct these problems much earlier. It also makes me feel embarrassment and shame that I did not know that these issues were going on as a child advocate,” she says. “As someone who has done my job as long as I have, I feel like I should have known that this was occurring and that I should have asked you all to fix these problems many years ago. I have a great deal of sadness in my heart right now because this is egregious that this has gone on this long and I echo just the sympathies of everyone that, for the folks in this audience, for what they went through, and for the failure of our state.”

Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who chairs the House Children and Families Committee, questioned where the breakdown is happening after a call has been made to the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline.

“I am just deeply upset that not only the unknown cases but the known cases were not acted upon,” she says. “When you have failure after failure about actually reported cases, and you have dedicated your life to doing this work has missed it, and I who care deeply about these issues has missed it.”

“In my work, what I really know and what I have seen over and over again is that there are bad actors and predators out there and there are evil people in this world. They want access to our children and it is our job as advocates and as lawmakers to put up really strong barriers between bad actors and evil doers,” says Van Schenkhof. “We want to make it as hard as possible to get to our children because we do know that the harder you make it for people to get to kids, the less likely abuse is to occur. What we have done with the laws that we have right now is we have basically a wire cutter. We’ve taken out the wire cutter and we have cut a giant chink in the fence that protects our kids. We have let evil doers and wrong doers come through this fence and hurt our kids. It is an invitation to predators. For far too long, we have silenced and discounted and ignored the voices of survivors and the voices of children. It is my deep hope that we have the courage to hear the people who came before me today and to make this change that absolutely I believe we are now compelled to make.”

Coleman, R-Arnold, believes if state law was followed appropriately, the children should have been protected.

“Because a child is abused by a person and we had credible accusations against individuals and we didn’t act. Let’s say we pass this and the governor signs it, what prevents failures in this system,” Coleman asks.

Van Schenkhof says no system is perfect.

“I think this bill would make a tremendous difference because we would have these places identified,” she says. “I’m not sure that I agree with you that this wouldn’t be enough. We have become a beacon for these homes. Just by putting up these barriers and putting these basic regulations in place, we will be less attractive for places to come here. I think that in of itself is a big change. I do think that other states that have done this have protected – they have healed that hole in the fence. There are lots of cases of child abuse that are never prosecuted, where the case goes from law enforcement to the prosecutor and the prosecutor decides not to take the case forward. I have seen egregious, egregious cases of child sexual abuse that prosecutors decide not to take to trial.”

Caitlin Whaley, of the Missouri Department of Social Services, says there is no ability on the Children’s Division part to force the operator to show a child who has allegedly been abused.

“That’s been a pain point for a long time. Even if we are able to see a child, there are standards that we have to meet to make findings,” says Whaley. “If you have children who are fearful that they’re going to be sent back to these facilities, you see a lot of instances where children might recant their stories. Even if they don’t recant, if we don’t have any physical evidence, it’s very difficult to oftentimes substantiate physical and sexual abuse findings if disclosures are not made immediately. And if you can’t see kids, you also can’t collect physical evidence. Even if you make a finding, there is no repercussions. There are a lot of systemic breakdowns happening that are cumulatively resulting in children being abused.”

Representative Dotty Bailey, R-Eureka, says abuse is abuse.

“I may not be able to see the hotline numbers, but I can certainly subpoena them through the House Speaker’s office. Here’s my problem, you’re going to push it back on the Legislature – it’s our fault. I’m calling you out on that. If you knew this was going on, somebody from your department should have come to one of legislators or senators and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a problem we need to investigate.’ Not only is our job writing laws but it’s also investigating. I’m sitting up here a little steamed because I’m realizing the state has known about this but it takes The Kansas City Star to bring it to our attention. And now, it’s the Legislature’s fault because we haven’t changed the law. Bull! You all knew, and you never came to anybody. This has gone on I don’t know how many years. We will get the law changed but I will try for a subpoena and get that information. I’m sick of the departments in this state saying, ‘Sorry, we can’t be held accountable’. Just, ridiculous. And the egregious things that are happening to these people, somebody needs to be accountable for it. Yeah, it’s egg on our face because we haven’t changed the law. If you all knew about this and didn’t come to any of us – there’s 163 in the House and thirty-something in the Senate, God knows you could find somebody like me that will dig and dig and get every subpoena I need to find out what’s going on.”

The committee has not yet voted on the bills. Click here to view House Bill 560 and click here to view House Bill 557.

Governor hopes to bring stability to Missouri Children’s Division

October 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor says filling the Children’s Division director position is a top priority for him.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters on July 22, 2020 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The Children’s Division is part of the state Department of Social Services (DSS), and is responsible for the administration of child welfare services. During his virtual media briefing on Wednesday, Governor Mike Parson reacted to the resignation of former State Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, who held the Children’s Division director position for about three months.

“Because there’s one thing for sure as a parent (and) as a grandparent, we need to take care of the children of this state. And we’ll get somebody in that place as soon as we can, and we’re going to get the best qualified person to be in that position,” Parson says.

There have now been six Children’s Division directors in the past seven years, and the governor hopes to bring stability to the agency. The Children’s Division’s responsibilities also include foster care and adoption. The division works with families, communities and the courts toward ensuring the safety and well-bring of Missouri children.

The governor says the agency’s deputy director has been doing a great job. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported this week that Joanie Rogers is now serving as interim director.

Missouri agency responsible for child welfare services has now had six directors in seven years

September 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A former state lawmaker from mid-Missouri’s Morgan County has resigned as Missouri’s Children’s Division director, after about three months on the job.

Former State Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 15, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Former State Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, was named the Children’s Division director in June. He told Missourinet on Tuesday that he is no longer the Children’s Division Director, adding that he appreciates the “opportunity that the governor gave me, and I wish the Children’s Division the best as they are very good people doing a very difficult job.”

The Children’s Division is part of the state Department of Social Services (DSS), and is responsible for the administration of child welfare services. Its responsibilities also include foster care and adoption.

The division works with families, communities and the courts toward ensuring the safety and well-bring of Missouri children.

There have now been six Children’s Division directors in the past seven years.

Wood, who served almost eight years in the Missouri House, resigned his seat in June, after being named the new Children’s Division director. Wood could not seek re-election, because of term limits.

He told Missourinet Versailles affiliate KTKS in May that he planned to stay for at least four years and that the division needed stability. Wood, who served as the House Budget Committee’s vice chairman, also told KTKS that he hoped his experience would help in funding the Children’s Division.

“I know it’s going to be a tough budget cycle because the revenues aren’t coming in, we’re going to have to look at cuts,” Wood said in May. “And with my experience on the budget and knowing how to deal with that and how to defend certain pieces, I think I’m going to be a good advocate for the department.”

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports Joanie Rogers is now serving as interim director.

More figures on Missouri’s 50% decline in Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline calls

April 6, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Since March 11, the state has had a 50% decline in the number of calls to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline – another mark left by the coronavirus. Sara Smith, Deputy Director of the Missouri Children’s Division, says the hotline had about 154,000 calls last fiscal year.

Missouri’s Social Security offices halt in-person services

“I mean average right now would be around 650 (daily calls) and we’re seeing about less than half of that,” she says.

Mandated reporters, at schools and some daycares and churches, are not seeing kids in person like they normally do.

“This is even lower than what we even see in the summer when school is out,” says Smith. “Probably because some daycares have also closed and after-school activities and churches, which are some of our other pretty important reporting parties.”

The Department of Social Services, Children’s Division is also very concerned that social isolation and the unprecedented pressures parents and families are experiencing are elevating the risk for child abuse or neglect.

“There are some stressors that would definitely be a concern during this period of unchartered time,” she says.

Children’s Division workers are still connecting with families, providing assistance, and helping to ensure that kids are safe. Smith is pleading to schools, churches and daycares to check in on their kids from time to time by telephone or online.