Clara Bates
Reporter | The Missouri IndependentClara Bates covers social services and poverty for The Missouri Independent. She previously worked for the Nevada Current, where she reported on labor violations in casinos, hurdles facing applicants for unemployment benefits and lax oversight of the funeral industry. She also wrote about vocational education for Democracy Journal. Bates is a graduate of Harvard College and a member of the Report for America Corps.
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The lieutenant governor is next in line to be governor, breaks ties in the Missouri Senate and sits on various boards. -
Some Missouri day care centers have been forced to shutter as state subsidy payments remain backlogged due to glitches in a new system. -
A majority of Missourians sent to restrictive nursing homes because of mental illness would be better served in a less restrictive setting, a year-and-a-half federal investigation determined. -
Missouri officials told the federal government the reason for the delays is that several social services programs are competing for limited resources. -
Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment has shrunk by around 200,000 people since last summer, as the state continues the process of undoing a COVID-era pause on eligibility checks. -
The American Rescue Plan funds for students experiencing homelessness must be budgeted by September — so three legislative interns spent this session helping get the word out. -
Though the measure banning child marriage passed a House committee this week, GOP leaders said it was too late to place the bill on the calendar for debate before the session ends. -
The Missouri Department of Social Services’ call center issues ultimately denied eligible Missourians meaningful access to benefits, a judge found. -
A GOP-sponsored bill would eliminate the formal process for 14- and 15-year-olds to work and only require a signed permission slip. -
The Missouri Senate gave initial approval to legislation that would end the state’s practice of seizing Social Security benefits from foster children. -
The median time it took Missouri’s social services department to process Medicaid applications for low-income Missourians in February was 77 days. -
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the practice unconstitutional, Missouri State Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, proposed legislation that would allow the death penalty in non-homicide cases.
