Missouri’s Children’s Division has 237 job vacancies – and the boots on the ground are overwhelmed with caseloads. The division’s director, Darrell Missey, said the accreditation standard is to have a caseload of 15 but he knows of a worker handling 38. He said workers are doing the “bare minimum” – what’s required by the law.

Missouri’s caseworker turnover rate is currently 31-percent. In Kansas City, it is 88-percent.