Thread by @SarahUnsicker

Cautiously relieved to learn that #Agape plans to close its doors on January 20.

I'll take a moment to celebrate this battle victory, but the war is far from won.

Efforts to #ShutDownAgape have been going on for years, but especially since September 2022. Our former Attorney General eventually filed an injunction to shut them down, then slow-walked it for months.

#Agape is closing for financial reasons, not for the welfare of children.

Nearly 30 residential facilities have reported to DSS #Missouri that they exist and are exempt from licensure. We don't have any way to know whether there are any that have not notified DSS, where they are or how many. dss.mo.gov/provider-servi…

There are over 14,000 children in #FosterCare in Missouri. 80% of Missouri children reported as missing to @MissingKids in 2021 were missing from a Social Services facility.

There has been extensive reporting by @NancyAFrench about #Kanaukuk Camps in Missouri - another place where abuse has been allowed to propagate. Stories like this one.

https://twitter.com/NancyAFrench/status/1547375633533177859

These are the scary things from #Missouri, but there are also things that give me hope. Last year Missouri established a Statewide Council on Childhood Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. We will be meeting again on Friday. dps.mo.gov/dir/programs/c…

A number of good bills have been filed this year which have the capacity to help victims and survivors, including HB 367 (Seitz), which temporarily extends the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims, ...

and HB 160 (Mackey), which prohibits schools from using corporal punishment.

I have filed HB 605, which requires facilities that are currently exempt from state licensure, to be licensed. For children who don't go home at night, we need to be sure the place where they are living is safe.

So today ... Celebrate. But also gear up. We have to continue to work for children and survivors.