Missouri
Federal court rules Missourians were illegally denied food aid by the state • Missouri Independent
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Missouri’s social services agency violated the law in the way it has administered its food assistance program.
U.S. District Court Judge M. Douglas Harpool ruled that the state’s practices — including long call center wait times and a lack of accommodations for those with disabilities — violate the laws governing the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Missouri Department of Social Services’ call center issues ultimately denied eligible Missourians meaningful access to benefits.
“While call wait times fluctuate and have shown some improvement, the record demonstrates too little progress,” Harpool wrote. “Consequently, Missourians who suffer food insecurity have been forced to either go hungry or seek alternative sources of food when their applications are denied.”
In February 2022, a federal lawsuit was filed against the social services department arguing the state’s “dysfunctional” call center deprives eligible Missourians of SNAP benefits, more commonly known as food stamps.
‘Broken system’: Call center backlogs impede Missouri families seeking food assistance
Plaintiffs described subsisting on little food while using up prepaid phone minutes waiting on hold for an interview, and, due to disability, struggling to understand the application forms but being unable to get through the call center for help.
An interview is required to sign up for or recertify SNAP benefits.
Without interviews, SNAP applications and renewals are automatically denied after 30 days — even if applicants have tried and been unable to get through. Around half of all SNAP denials in the state are due to failure to complete an interview, according to data obtained in litigation. The average call center wait time for the SNAP interview line, as of late last year, The Independent found, was over an hour.
“The high percentage of denials based on failure to interview is a direct consequence of the failed administration of defendant’s SNAP program,” Harpool wrote in his order.
“These denials are not based on the applicant’s eligibility but on the inadequacies of [the Department of Social Services’] process,” he wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by New York-based National Center for Law and Economic Justice, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and Stinson LLP, on behalf of individual low-income Missourians and the advocacy group Empower Missouri.
“Today’s decision is a vindication of the rights of Missourians,” said Katharine Deabler-Meadows, attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.
“The Court has recognized the immense harm that DSS is causing to people who depend on SNAP to feed themselves and their families,” she said. “We are excited that DSS will now have to implement systems that ensure all Missourians can access SNAP.”
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The decision orders the social services agency to come into compliance with federal SNAP law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and outlines several steps the agency must take, under the court’s supervision.
The steps the state must follow, as outlined in the order include:
- submitting a report with specific changes it will make to comply with the law within 30 days;
- filing monthly reports with the court with detailed data on SNAP applications and wait times, and filing that report with several members of Missouri state government outlined in the order;
- submitting a proposed plan of action and timeline of implementation “to address shortcomings in the administration of SNAP as identified” within 90 days, including a reduction in call wait times and denials based on failure to receive an interview and compliance with the ADA.
After the state complies with the order, the court “will determine what, if any, further actions, orders, remedies, or proceedings are appropriate,” Harpool wrote.
Harpool has been candid in previous hearings about his concerns over the state’s progress since the lawsuit was first filed.
“I continue to be amazed that it’s been since this case started,” he said in a January motion hearing, “that the state’s whole focus is how can we avoid liability rather than how can we get these benefits to our citizens.”
Hardin Haynes, the attorney representing DSS, rejected that characterization, according to court transcripts.
“The whole time this has been going on,” he said in the January hearing, “DSS has been doing what it can to increase its ability to do interviews throughout this process. That has never stopped.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DSS has previously said it is doing all it can to hire more staff, grant overtime, move to automate assistance and contract with private call centers.
Agency leaders pointed to resource issues and challenges getting more staff as it requested $4 million this year for a “call center bot” to increase automation and reduce the need for staff on the general call center line.
The Missouri Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 16, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from June 16 drawing
12-20-53-67-70, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 16 drawing
Midday: 1-1-3
Midday Wild: 0
Evening: 5-0-3
Evening Wild: 6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from June 16 drawing
Midday: 6-5-4-8
Midday Wild: 2
Evening: 1-7-9-9
Evening Wild: 6
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from June 16 drawing
Early Bird: 12
Morning: 15
Matinee: 07
Prime Time: 07
Night Owl: 06
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Show Me Cash numbers from June 16 drawing
03-25-26-30-36
Check Show Me Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Missouri Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Missouri Lottery’s regional offices, by appointment only.
To claim by mail, complete a Missouri Lottery winner claim form, sign your winning ticket, and include a copy of your government-issued photo ID along with a completed IRS Form W-9. Ensure your name, address, telephone number and signature are on the back of your ticket. Claims should be mailed to:
Ticket Redemption
Missouri Lottery
P.O. Box 7777
Jefferson City, MO 65102-7777
For in-person claims, visit the Missouri Lottery Headquarters in Jefferson City or one of the regional offices in Kansas City, Springfield or St. Louis. Be sure to call ahead to verify hours and check if an appointment is required.
For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Missouri Lottery prize claim page.
When are the Missouri Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Pick 4: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Cash4Life: 8 p.m. daily.
- Cash Pop: 8 a.m. (Early Bird), 11 a.m. (Late Morning), 3 p.m. (Matinee), 7 p.m. (Prime Time) and 11 p.m. (Night Owl) daily.
- Show Me Cash: 8:59 p.m. daily.
- Lotto: 8:59 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
- Powerball Double Play: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Missouri editor. You can send feedback using this form.
A skydiving instructor who had made over 6,800 jumps. A drummer who was meticulous about safety since falling in love with the sport that helped him sober up. A software engineer on the cusp of becoming a certified skydiving coach. A grandfather honoring his sister lost to cancer.
Family and friends of the 11 jumpers and pilot killed when their plane crashed shortly after taking off in Missouri said they loved their hobby — whether it was to find personal peace or to share a once-in-a-lifetime experience with others. They remembered the experienced skydivers as people who may have had regular jobs to pay their bills but free falling brought both the thrill and the serenity they craved.
Blake Thacker, 25, jumped for seven years since first skydiving on his 18th birthday. He was set to get his skydiving coach certification over the weekend, his mother Sherry said.
“Skydiving had given him the confidence to do other things in his life, to be successful and reach for things maybe he thought he wasn’t good enough to do,” she said.
Thacker was an aviation software engineer and his mother saw that same methodical safety-oriented focus in his hobby.
“He said, ’Mom the danger in skydiving is really not the diving it’s the plane,’” she recalled.
Plane crashed shortly after takeoff
The plane was barely off the ground Sunday — only about 100 feet (30 meters) in the air — when it made an abrupt left turn before crashing on a sunny day. It appeared to be losing power, witnesses said.
This Sept. 2024 photo provided by Kathryn Nold shows Nold and her husband, Dustin McKinney, and their two kids in Stilwell, Kansas. Credit: AP/Kathryn Nold
Skydive Kansas City operated the single-engine turboprop Pacific Aerospace 750XL built in 2010 out of an airport in the small town of Butler, roughly 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Kansas City.
The plane arrived in Butler for the first time on June 5, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. Pictures of the aircraft posted on social media showed it still had advertising from Chattanooga Skydiving Co. Its flight history showed it had previously been flying for weeks at a time in Tennessee and Wisconsin.
A woman who answered the phone at the Chattanooga Skydiving Co. hung up Tuesday when a reporter identified himself.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating all factors leading to the crash including how much experience the pilot had with this model of plane and any mechanical or structural problems with the aircraft.
This undated photo provided by Gloria Shanahan shows Michael Shanahan in San Francisco. Credit: AP/Uncredited
The 12 people killed were identified as Thacker, Kurt John Roy, Michael Shanahan, David Hershberger, Sai Karthik Varma Datla, Matthew Swope, Dustin McKinney, Jen Sharp, Marcus Miller, Nicholas Nash, William Fischer and Dane Cordes, according to the Bates County Coroner’s Office.
Skydiving helped one jumper get sober
McKinney’s wife said her husband was meticulous about safety when he jumped after his love for skydiving prompted him to get sober seven years ago.
“It feels like this is the only way that skydiving could have taken out Dustin, because it was such a freak accident,” Kathryn Nold said. “It was the most horrific thing. It’s still very surreal.”
McKinney, 44, worked at a furniture store and played drums in Kansas City-area bands. The father of two also had a part-time paying gig as a videographer for Skydive Kansas City.
“He could just immediately make people feel seen and warm and want to be around him, and I just feel infinitely lucky that we were the center of his world and able to experience that love from him that he gave so effortlessly to everyone,” Nold said of her high school sweetheart.
Honoring his sister by jumping
Shanahan took up skydiving just before his older sister Nikki died from breast cancer in 2016, his mother said Tuesday.
“He wanted to live his life and make it worth having fun, having a good time, doing something he enjoyed, and skydiving was something he had always wanted to do, unbeknownst to us,” Gloria Shanahan told The Associated Press.
Shanahan honored his sister by skydiving on her birthday, Mother’s Day and the anniversary of her death. He then visited her grave.
Shanahan, 54, jumped Saturday just for fun. He booked Sunday’s jump as a backup in case the weather was bad but decided to go ahead and jump both days anyway, his mother said.
“We do not regret that he did. He got to live the life that he wanted to,” she said.
Shanahan’s skydiving instructor was Hershberger, who was on the plane with him Sunday. The two had another bond. Hershberger taught violin to two of Shanahan’s grandchildren.
Hershberger, 54, also taught orchestra and played trumpet with the Kansas City Wind Symphony. His summers were spent at Skydive Kansas City, often harnessed to inexperienced jumpers exhilarated and nervous to cross something off their bucket lists.
Skydiving to find out more about yourself
Sharp, 55, took her first jump in 1989 when she was 18. Some 6,800 jumps later, she was a legendary instructor at the highest levels of the sport and the coach for Thacker’s certification.
On her blog, Sharp wrote about how she jumped into Denver’s Coors Field ballpark while dressed as the queen of England and loved to go tandem with people skydiving for the first time and to see them test their resolve, grow personally and just feel alive.
“Being trained by Jen Sharp was like taking piano lessons from Beethoven,” her friend Greg Upper told The Associated Press, calling Sharp a philosopher. “That’s how big of a deal she was.”
Swope, 39, worked in IT, but every weekend he was up in the sky as he searched for any bit of fun, especially something he could share with others, his best friend, Justin Williams, said.
“He loved it. He gets to take people on their once-in-a-lifetime adventure every weekend, multiple times a day,” Williams said.
After Swope’s death, Williams said, he’s terrified to go skydiving again but also knows he has to because his friend knew to truly live is to take risks.
“It’s scary to be in the door, but the moment you let go, it dissolves away and induces a state of presence that you will not find anywhere else,” Williams said of free falling. “You don’t worry about the future. You’re not sad about the past. You’re just present, and it’s the most peaceful experience.”
The skydiving industry says it has a strong safety record. The United States Parachute Association said that last year nearly 3.5 million jumps were completed and that 16 civilians died, the majority from human error.
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