About Us

The State of Missouri has three Citizens Review Panels, including State Fatality Review Panel, the Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board, and the Missouri Task Force on Children's Justice. The Task Force is required by federal statute to produce an annual report as well as a comprehensive report every three years to include the State's systems related to the investigative, administrative and judicial handling of child abuse, neglect and exploitation cases and child maltreatment-related fatalities. The Task Force is to make recommendations for improvements to those systems.

Task Force Information

Apply for Children’s Justice Act Grant

Submit your project to help make a difference in the life of a child.

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Apply

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Submit

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Approval

  • Requested projects must have a state-wide impact to be considered for funding.
  • The amount awarded will be determined on a case–by–case basis depending on project needs.

Grant Guidelines

To qualify for funding, your project must be used to support at least one of the three areas highlighted on the application and stay within the guidelines of the Missouri Children’s Division Travel Policy. Grantees should pay close attention to the evaluation methods mentioned in section 2.4 and also budget line items mentioned in section 3.1.

Examples of previously funded projects:

  • Missouri KidsFirst: Missouri KidsFirst hosted the ChildFirst® Forensic Interview training on May 2-6, 2022. Thirty-five individuals participated in the five-day training. All attendees received education on the benefits of using a multidisciplinary team approach to investigating child abuse/neglect allegations; age-appropriate, non-leading child interviewing techniques; and the research supporting the interviewing/investigative methods that were taught. They also practiced applying the ChildFirst interviewing protocol and methods through mock forensic interviews, after which they received feedback with reflections on their strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA): MJJA hosted its Spring Conference on May 11-13, 2022 in Springfield, Missouri. The conference included four plenary sessions and eighteen workshops. Plenary sessions addressed strategies for helping children succeed in schools; fine tuning the multi-disciplinary team; effective practices to improve the life outcomes of children who have experienced the juvenile justice system, as well as a survivor’s story of overcoming domestic violence and abuse. Workshops topics included topics such as practicing self-care; understanding characteristics/behaviors of child rapists and strategies for investigating these suspects and the crime scene; working with law enforcement to ensure you have a legally sufficient referral; and behavioral risk assessment basic concepts.
  • Missouri Office of Prosecution Services (MOPS): MOPS received Children’s Justice Act funding for a Child Sexual Abuse Trial School to provide training to prosecutors and other allied professionals in Missouri on the topic of sex crimes against children. Child Sexual Abuse Trial School was held October 11-13, 2022 in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Child Sexual Abuse Trial School improves the investigation and prosecutorial response to child sexual abuse by increasing the expertise of professionals in the preparation and execution of child sexual abuse trials. Seventy-five individuals participated including attorneys, forensic interviewers, law enforcement officers, Children’s Division investigators and medical professionals.

Reporting Guidelines

Grantees must also complete a Final Project Report within 30 days of completion in order to receive funding. The Task Force requires grantees to report on the following outputs and outcomes for conferences and trainings:

  • Total number of participants
  • Number of participants by discipline
  • Number of participants by county
  • Number of participants who report:
    • The conference/training encouraged them to think about things in a new way.
    • The conference/training improved their skills required for their role.
    • They deepened connections with others in the field.
    • They gained new ideas or techniques which they intend to implement in their role.
    • They feel more energized about their work after attending the conference/training.

The Task Force has created a reporting template and sample survey that grantees can use to help meet these reporting requirements. When completing the final project report, please provide as much detail as possible, including:

  • A thorough description of the statewide impact and whether the desired target population was served.
  • Requests for funding conferences or training events and the names and resumes/vitas for each presenter, instructor, and/or facilitator.
  • Copies of publications used, such as conference/training registration forms, brochures, announcements, etc.
  • What you learned from the evaluation and how you plan on adjusting your approach based on the learnings in the future.

Training Resources

The Children’s Justice Task Force endorses the practice of collaborative multidisciplinary training as an opportunity for professionals to improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases. The Missouri organizations listed below offer opportunities for training on topics pertinent to child abuse and neglect. Please contact the individual organizations for specific information or registration requirements.

Contact Us

If you have questions or need more information, you can email us at CDChildrens.JusticeActTaskForce@dss.mo.gov or call 573-751-3171 to speak with a team member.