Director of Missouri's long-troubled public assistance agency announces retirement
Kim Evans, center, announced Friday she was retiring from her position as director of the Family Support Division. She's pictured here speaking to the media in Jefferson City on March 28, 2023, about Medicaid renewals, alongside MO HealthNet director Todd Richardson, right, and former department director, Robert Knodell (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent).
The head of the Missouri agency that for years has struggled to administer public benefit programs like food assistance and Medicaid announced her retirement on Friday afternoon, effective immediately.
Kim Evans had served as director of the Family Support Division within the Missouri Department of Social Services since 2020. She spent over two decades working for the department, including as a program eligibility specialist, manager and deputy director.
'(The Department of Social Services) is grateful for her service and wishes her the best in the next chapter,' Baylee Watts, the department's spokeswoman, said in an email.
The interim director will be Mandi Adams, who is currently one of the division's deputy directors.
Evans' departure last week is the latest in a series of leadership changes underway at Missouri's embattled social services agency since Gov. Mike Kehoe was elected in November. A new department director, Jessica Bax, began in January, and a new director for the child welfare division, Sara Smith, was named last week.
Federal court rules Missourians were illegally denied food aid by the state
During Evans' tenure, the department faced criticism from state lawmakers, the federal government and advocacy organizations over its administration of public benefits — which affect the lives of millions of Missourians.
A federal judge last year ruled Missourians were illegally denied food aid by the state due to hours-long call center wait times for participants to receive a required interview.
Those delays — which leadership has largely blamed on call center staffing issues — translate to families struggling to feed their young children while rearranging their days to wait on hold, Missourians with disabilities who can't understand the application forms being unable to get help and some subsisting on little food while using up prepaid phone minutes on hold.
'While call wait times fluctuate and have shown some improvement, the record demonstrates too little progress,' the judge in that case, U.S. District Court Judge M. Douglas Harpool, wrote last year. 'Consequently, Missourians who suffer food insecurity have been forced to either go hungry or seek alternative sources of food when their applications are denied.'
The state has been required to submit monthly reports as part of the lawsuit. The average wait time for the interview line for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was 45 minutes in January, the most recent monthly data states.
The average wait time for the general call line, which handles all other inquiries — for programs including Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and non-interview related SNAP queries — was just under one hour in January.
That case is still ongoing, and the parties are in mediation.
Missouri children are losing Medicaid coverage at rate that is alarming pediatricians
The department in its budget request to the state legislature asked for $11 million to hire 220 new staff in the Family Support Division to help ensure the agency complies with federal and state rules on timely processing, and 'maintains a reasonable wait time in the call centers,' the budget request stated. The governor recommended only 55 new positions.
Asked about the call center issues in a Senate appropriations committee hearing last month, Bax was candid about the ongoing problems, stating that over 10,000 applications for SNAP were rejected solely due to failure to interview in January.
Bax told the committee the agency is looking at 'overall efficiencies' including trying to get a shortened and condensed SNAP interview approved, and specializing some of the call center staff.
'So that is where the plan is: to really kind of take back those specialized teams and then have an ability to condense that interview so that we can free up the phone lines,' Bax said.
Democratic state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern of Kansas City said she continues to hear from constituents about their issues accessing aid to which they're entitled.
'This is one of the things that I continue to have very grave concerns about,' Nurrenbern said at last months's appropriations committee hearing. 'How long people are waiting online for essential services, and hear a lot of frustration from constituents reaching out and saying, 'I've been waiting online all day and nobody's getting back to us.'
'So I really hope that this is something that this committee can put some emphasis on and making sure that we are being as efficient as possible with these services,' she added.
Bax replied that she 'could not agree more.'
Bax's testimony differed from prior testimony of Evans, who typically downplayed issues with wait times to legislators. At one hearing in late 2023, Evans told lawmakers she was 'excited' the wait time was only a few minutes the morning of a hearing, though records obtained by The Independent would later show the average that month was actually over an hour.
There have also been years-long problems with Medicaid application processing, leading to issues like pregnant Missourians going without prenatal care.
Last summer, the federal Medicaid agency announced it was intervening to help bring the state back into compliance with timely processing.
Bax said last month, regarding some Medicaid cases, 'we're about three months behind on the applications.'
According to data for January, the average time to process Medicaid applications for aged, blind and disabled applications was 107 days. The federal limit is 90 days for those applications. The average for the other category of Medicaid applications was 29 days, climbing in recent months but still below the 45-day standard. Bax also said last month the department is looking at using contractors to help with annual Medicaid renewals.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The Republican Bill: Costs and Doubts
To the Editor: Re 'G.O.P.'s Bill Would Swell U.S. Debt by $2.4 Trillion' (front page, June 5): This Big Bad Bill is not just about what it adds to the debt and the deficit, but also about what it takes away from millions of Americans. With the bill's planned cuts to Medicaid, almost 11 million Americans would lose their health insurance, according to a projection by the Congressional Budget Office. Protections from artificial intelligence abuses would be gutted, and funding for crucial global vaccination would be erased. All this so Silicon Valley billionaires, among others, would receive one of the largest tax cuts in history, amounting to some $3.8 trillion. The deficit would also explode, causing the interest we would have to pay on our debt to exceed what we spend on national defense. The bottom line is that this bill is what Elon Musk called it: a 'disgusting abomination.' Henry A. LowensteinNew York To the Editor: Re 'After Muscling Their Bill Through the House, Some Republicans Have Regrets' (Congressional Memo, June 3): Republicans in Congress didn't care what was in the bill, as long as President Trump was happy that they voted for it. Only now that the horrors of the bill have been made public do Republicans act shocked, shocked at what they voted for. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Sen. Chris Murphy Champions Youth Mental Health at Vogue Benefit
Kate Owen Every aspect of American life is being scrutinized, politicized, and altered under the Trump administration. Amid these challenges, editors, physicians, designers, and guests gathered to tackle one of the most pertinent issues facing Americans: mental health. On Sunday, June 2, New York-Presbyterian's Center for Youth Mental Health held its annual benefit, where Charlie Shaffer, MD, spoke with Senator Chris Murphy about the current developments on Capitol Hill. 'I think the burden is on the profession to pull yourselves outside of the medical model and really challenge policymakers when it comes to the societal factors that drive mental illness,' Murphy told the intimate crowd, which included Anna Wintour, Tory Burch, and Christopher John Rodgers. 'I believe that no social media company should allow any kid under 13 to have access to these sites,' Murphy continued. 'I don't think the algorithm should turn on until you're 18. I think it's the equivalent of a cigarette — this algorithm that just feeds you more and more polluted content.' Murphy was referring to research that has been done on the relationship between social media and mental health. He also raised concerns about the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would put 8.6 million Americans at risk for not having Medicaid coverage that includes mental health care. Coincidentally, the Center for Youth Mental Health event — co-sponsored by Vogue — took place the day before Murphy announced the launch of a new political action committee to oppose President Trump's agenda and seek to 'mobilize those who want to push back against the administration.' In a post to X, Murphy said that 'mobilization needs infrastructure. It needs organizers, technology, and logistics support.' The Trump administration is currently increasing ICE arrest quotas, swinging tariff rates, eliminating climate change initiatives, and scrutinizing the humanity of trans people. All of these factors and more affect the mental health of young people, which Murphy acknowledged during the talk. 'You've got to build a consistent and uninterrupted system of care,' Murphy explained, 'but you also have to get serious about the exposure to violence in our cities.' He said further, 'You have to get serious about regulating social media. You have to understand the links between intense poverty — and I think many are doing that, but it is not always the number one, two, or three bullet points for providers and professionals coming to Washington. So that is certainly something that could help us act on, I think, what we are admitting to be a really comprehensive set of factors that contribute to kids' mental illness.' Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
As a doctor, I'm telling you that Medicaid cuts will cost Ohio money — and lives
As a Cincinnati doctor, I see what Medicaid cuts will cost us. I work as a primary care physician in Cincinnati − much of my job involves counseling people on the long-term risks of today's actions. I remind parents that juice contributes to early diabetes in their children. I teach teenagers that regular cannabis use increases the risk of psychosis. I urge patients to take their blood pressure medications to avoid future strokes and heart attacks. I refer people for colonoscopies to catch cancer early. My job is about prevention − acting now to avoid suffering later. Congress is about to do the opposite. More: Trump budget bill would slash Medicaid. How it would affect Ohio The House Budget Reconciliation Bill includes drastic cuts to Medicaid, which will take health insurance away from Ohioans. If passed, these cuts won't just cost the state billions of dollars − they'll cost lives. Estimates suggest that between 300,000 and 500,000 Ohioans will lose their health insurance coverage due to these cuts. They are unlikely to find other options. Employment benefits won't suddenly appear. In 2018, the Ohio Department of Medicaid reported that the vast majority (93.8%) of Ohio Medicaid recipients were employed, in school, taking care of family members, or navigating severe illness. The average Ohioan on Medicaid won't be able to afford private health insurance − self-insured plans cost upwards of $8,000 per year. The result? Fewer people will get the care they need. Uninsured individuals are three times more likely to postpone or avoid seeking care and much more likely to skip medications due to cost. People won't stop getting sick − they'll just stop getting care. When care stops, hospitals close. According to a 2025 report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, 'over the past two decades, nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed. As a result, the millions of Americans who live in those communities no longer have access to an emergency room, inpatient care, and many other hospital services that citizens in most of the rest of the country take for granted." More: Ohio lawmakers wanted to keep kids on Medicaid. Then they changed course As of April 2025, there are eight Ohio hospitals at risk of closing, and there are 34 Ohio hospitals operating at a financial loss. If these Medicaid cuts go through, hospitals in Ohio will have to provide more than $2 million more in uncompensated care each year, while missing out on millions in revenue from covered care. This financial stress will be too much. Hospitals will close, costing communities thousands of jobs and worsening health care shortages in areas. Once hospitals close, patients will have to travel further and wait even longer. They will delay care due to these inconveniences, and they will suffer more. Eventually, they'll still seek care − because illness doesn't wait. But often, it will be too late. A few years back, I took care of a patient in the hospital who was living with diabetes and hypertension. He lost his insurance when he lost his job during the COVID-19 layoffs. Without health insurance and transportation, he couldn't see a doctor. He ignored the worsening numbness in his feet and blurry vision while he desperately tried to stay housed and find work. By the time he realized how sick he was and finally arrived at the hospital, his foot was gangrenous, the infection had spread to his bones, and he had suffered multiple small strokes. His eyesight was permanently damaged. After extensive surgeries and a prolonged hospital stay, he was discharged to a nursing facility, where he faced an uphill battle to recover. More: Man with rare skin disease fears Medicaid cuts This story is not unique. Each year, millions experience lapses in their health care coverage, leading to delayed or forgone care. If these cuts to Medicaid pass, there will be millions more. Uninsured adults are more likely to delay care, to develop more serious illnesses with more complicated and longer hospital stays, and are at increased risk of early death. The decisions lawmakers make today will have lasting effects. As a doctor, I see the human cost of delayed care and insurance lapses every day. As an Ohioan, I know our communities can't afford this. Call your representatives and senators. Tell them to protect our health and our hospitals. Tell them: Don't cut Medicaid. Joshua Smith is a resident physician at The Christ Hospital and University of Cincinnati Medical Center, training in Family Medicine and Psychiatry. All opinions and views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of his places of work or employers. The information provided does not represent medical advice, and patient details have been changed to protect privacy. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio will lose healthcare access if Congress cuts Medicaid | Opinion
