Missouri Lawmakers Question Child Welfare Leaders on Foster Care Deaths and High Staff Turnover
A bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers, led by State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, pressed Children’s Division Director Sara Smith regarding the agency's procedures for placing children with elevated medical or behavioral needs in foster care. This inquiry follows several fatalities this summer involving children under the agency's care, including 17-year-old Korbin Papadopoulos, who died after being placed with a foster parent not licensed or trained to manage his type 1 diabetes and autism. Korbin's father, Teddy Papadopoulos, attributed his son's death to the division's negligence. Lawmakers expressed concerns about the division's 'all-hands-on-deck' approach to emergency placements, which State Rep. Ian Mackey described as chaotic and unsustainable, questioning who holds ultimate responsibility for safe placements. The Children's Division is also undergoing a restructuring of its child abuse and neglect investigation teams, aiming to centralize supervision and create specialized career pathways. Gover... 
