The latest Kids Count report shows fewer children in Missouri and Kansas lived in poverty in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic years, but many are still struggling to rebound from reading and math learning loss.

The annual child wellness report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks states on kids’ economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. Kansas ranked 14th overall, and Missouri ranked 27th — both a few places above last year.

Both states reduced the number of children living in high poverty areas or in families headed by someone without a high school diploma. In 2023, more children had parents with secure employment. Fewer people had children as teenagers as well.

Pandemic-era support programs like the child tax credit lessened the blow of the worst economic effects of the pandemic, according to the report.

Jessica Herrera Russell, senior communications manager for Kansas Action for Children, said proposed federal budget cuts could limit families’ access to other support measures like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“Sick parents aren’t going to be able to consistently work. Hungry kids aren’t going to be able to learn,” Herrera Russell said. “We really need to make sure that we ensure that everybody who is eligible is able to get help from what those programs are for.”

The percentage of Kansas children without health insurance in 2023 was the same as before the pandemic and improved by a couple points in Missouri. But 3,000 Kansas children lost health insurance from 2022 to 2023 because of paperwork issues when states redetermined Medicaid eligibility, Herrera Russell said.

According to the report’s other health indicators for wellness, children in Missouri weighed less at birth than they did in 2019, and mortality rates for both states’ children and teens rose.

The number of children in Missouri living in households that spent a large portion of their income on housing costs also stayed the same, and decreased by a percentage point in Kansas.

Tracy Greever-Rice, project director for the Missouri Kids Count with the Family and Community Trust, said 1 in 5 of the state’s children live in households that spend at least a third of their income on housing.

“Housing costs… includes things like mortgage and rent, insurance, utilities and other expenses that are just related to keeping that roof over your head,” Greever-Rice said. “We are improving in poverty, but there is additional work to do around being at risk of living in a household that is experiencing poverty.”

Struggle to recover academically

Despite several economic improvements for Missouri and Kansas children, both states have lost ground in nearly all of the report’s education indicators of well-being.

The exception is graduation rates — the number of high school students graduating on time in Missouri stayed the same and increased by two percentage points in Kansas.

But access to early childhood education remains a concern. In Kansas, 55% of young children ages 3 and 4 years old weren’t enrolled in school and in Missouri, 57% weren’t — both a couple of percentage points lower than before the pandemic.

Greever-Rice said early childhood education for students is predictive of long-term academic success.

Students in Missouri and Kansas are also still struggling to recover in reading and math to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Kids Count data. In Missouri, 77% of eighth graders were not proficient in math and 73% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading.

In Kansas, 74% of eighth graders were not proficient in math and 72% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading.

In addition to targeted learning investments, Herrera Russell said reducing the amount of adverse childhood experiences that children go through will also help them academically.

Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events that affect children in the long term — like economic hardship, experiencing domestic or community violence, living with someone who has a mental illness or substance use problem or facing discrimination based on race or ethnicity.

“If their parents are able to keep stable housing, if they’re able to ensure that they can get their kids to school, if they are able to make sure that they have enough to eat for every meal,” Herrera Russell said, “that will decrease the amount of trauma that kids go through and the amount of upheavals, and that will enable kids to go to school, ready to learn.”

Travelers visiting Missouri State Parks have options when it comes to lodging, including accommodations and campgrounds within the parks and nearby RV parks, resorts, hotels, motels, and rental homes. For a little more comfort and amenities, you may want to opt for an off-site lodging option. Here’s what to know about lodging in Missouri’s three most-visited state parks.

Roaring River State Park

Cassville

The most-frequented Missouri State Park in 2022, Roaring River State Park is a popular destination for trout fishing. Visitors can also check out Mark Twain National Forest nearby. Missouri State Park accommodations at Roaring River State Park include rooms at the Emory Melton Inn and Conference Center. The inn is located near the swimming pool, campgrounds, and park store, and it offers rooms with refrigerators, cable TV, air conditioning, and kitchenette suites. Single, duplex, and fourplex cabins are also scattered throughout the park, with each cabin having a kitchen and at least two bedrooms. 

Beyond the park grounds, in Cassville, visitors can stay at Roaring River Resort and RV Park, in either a room or cabin. Or if you plan to visit throughout the year, you can pay a yearly lease at the private RV campground. (Nightly rentals are not available.) Another nearby option is the Rock Village Court Cabins and RV Park, which is open from February 28–October 31.

Lake of the Ozarks State Park

Kaiser

With 89 miles of shoreline, Lake of the Ozarks State Park offers ample opportunities for swimming, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, boating, cave tours, fishing, and more. If you want to stay nestled in the outdoors but avoid sleeping in a tent, you can stay in a cabin at the “Outpost” or in one of two available yurts, which serve as the only park-run lodging options for visitors to reserve. The cabins, surrounded by an oak-hickory forest, can sleep up to six people. Furnishings include tables and chairs, a wood-burning stove, basic kitchen appliances, limited electricity, and no running water. A central shower house is available. The yurts in the campground sleep five to six people, with a log futon and a log futon bunk bed; the two properties include a coffee table, heater, air conditioner, small refrigerator, microwave, and lamp.

Visitors have myriad options for accommodations, with Lake of the Ozarks State Park spanning such a large area. You can stay at a private rental home from Airbnb or VRBO, a more robust resort, or a budget-friendly motel or hotel. Margaritaville Lake Resort, near Osage Beach, offers a memorable experience, with an indoor waterpark, access to the marina, a space, two golf courses, and several on-site restaurants. Alternatively, the Point Randall Resort can foster a peaceful stay filled with beachside activities. And for a romantic getaway or a golf-filled trip, check out the Inn at Harbour Ridge Bed and Breakfast.

Photography courtesy of Missouri State Parks

Photography courtesy of Missouri State Parks

Bennett Spring State Park

Lebanon

A popular destination for rainbow trout fishing, Bennett Spring State Park is home to campgrounds, hiking grounds, and more. Similar to park-run options at Roaring River State Park, accommodations at Bennett Spring State Park include motel rooms, as well as individual, duplex, and remodeled four-plex units. A dining lodge and park store are also on the grounds. Rooms at the motel typically have a refrigerator, TV, heat and air conditioning, microwave, and coffee maker. Cabins feature a kitchen, one or two bedrooms, and a living room and come equipped with basic cooking utensils and dishes, as well as heat and air conditioning.The individual cabins also have a fireplace.

Visitors can also stay at nearby RiverWood Resort, on the Niangua River. Guests can stay in one of 13 rustic but modern lodges on the property, which can each sleep between two and 10 people. The homes come with spacious rooms and kitchens, decks, and access to an indoor pool and jacuzzi tubs, an ideal retreat after a long day of fishing or enjoying the woods. Also on the Niangua River, Coastal Country Riverside Resort offers a range of options, including a cabin, eco-house, riverside glamping tent, or a personal tent.

Four people have admitted to fraudulently registering motor vehicles in Missouri, losing the state more than $80,000 in tax revenue.

Three are former employees of vehicle and driver’s license offices, and the other is Gary Wilds, owner of Pinnacle Concierge, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Wilds’ business assisted customers in registering their vehicles with the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Wilds bribed contract license office employees Ashlynn Graeff, Megan Leone and Michelle Boyer to falsely represent to the state that customers’ vehicles had passed emissions tests and safety inspections, prosecutors said.

He also bribed them into submitting forged documents claiming that vehicle owners were eligible for sales tax exemptions, reducing tax assessments from thousands of dollars per vehicle to as little as $11.

Some of Wilds’ customers were aware of his practices, but those who were unaware suffered financial losses because Wilds sent a fraction of the actual required taxes to the Department of Revenue, leaving the owners liable for the remainder.

Wilds began paying Leone to fraudulently register vehicles and exempt them from taxes in 2017. When Leone was promoted to manager, she passed the job to Graeff, her subordinate. Graeff submitted as many as 10 fraudulent registrations per day, and Wilds paid her $100 per transaction, the release said.

Boyer began assisting Wilds with the registrations as early as 2015.

Graeff pleaded guilty in March to three counts of making a false statement. She was sentenced to four years’ probation and ordered to pay $84,554 in restitution.

Wilds pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 22 counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and six counts of making a false statement. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

Leone pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. Boyer pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced July 24 and Aug. 21, respectively.