Latest news with #RebeccaRivas
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Missouri continues to lag behind most states in children's health, report finds
(Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). Missouri ranked in the bottom third of all states for children's health, according to a report released Monday — due in part to a high rate of child and teen deaths. The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which used data from 2023, evaluated all states on four metrics of child well-being: health, economic well-being, education, and family and community. Missouri ranked near the middle of states for overall child well-being, at 27th out of 50, weighed down by poor performance in health and education. Missouri's rankings in the four categories were: 13th in economic well-being, 33rd in education, 35th in health And 25th in family & community. 'Children's health remains an area of concern,' noted a press release Monday from Family and Community Trust, the Missouri-based nonprofit partner to Kids Count. Only nine states had higher rates of child and teen deaths in 2023 than Missouri, one of the factors considered in the health ranking. (Those were: Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alaska, Oklahoma and Montana.) Missouri generally ranks among the states with the highest rate of firearm deaths for kids. Firearms became the leading cause of kids' deaths in the United States in 2020, surpassing car accidents. While the national average in 2023 was 29 child and teen deaths per 100,000, that number was 37 deaths per 100,000 in Missouri. The national average rose overall in 2023. The report notes that while covid deaths contributed to the increase, the rise was largely due to rising firearm deaths and drug overdoses, particularly among teens ages 15 to 19. Also bringing Missouri's health ranking down: Missouri's rate of low-birth weight babies increased in 2023 from 2019 and is above the national average. Other factors helped Missouri's score. For one, Missouri has seen major improvements in children's insurance coverage since the state implemented Medicaid expansion in 2021. The rate of uninsured kids fell from 7% in 2019 to 5% in 2023, which is now on par with the national average. Nationally, Missouri saw among the sharpest declines in uninsured people overall from 2019 to 2023 with the expansion of Medicaid. Those gains could be threatened by Congress' budget proposal to reduce Medicaid spending in part by imposing more barriers to care. Teen births in the state have gone down, in line with national trends — though the state's average is still above the national one. The rate of overweight or obese kids has also improved in Missouri and is down to 31% of kids in 2023, on par with the national average. The rate of kids in poverty declined to 14% in the state in 2023, below the 16% national average. Missouri's education ranking slipped in recent years. In 2023, 77% of Missouri eighth graders were not proficient at math, according to the report, which is nearly 10 percentage points worse than 2019 and is worse than the national average. The press release from Family and Community Trust said the data show a 'continuing need to invest in education in Missouri.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Missouri continues to lag behind most states in children's health, report finds
(Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). Missouri ranked in the bottom third of all states for children's health, according to a report released Monday — due in part to a high rate of child and teen deaths. The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which used data from 2023, evaluated all states on four metrics of child well-being: health, economic well-being, education, and family and community. Missouri ranked near the middle of states for overall child well-being, at 27th out of 50, weighed down by poor performance in health and education. Missouri's rankings in the four categories were: 13th in economic well-being, 33rd in education, 35th in health And 25th in family & community. 'Children's health remains an area of concern,' noted a press release Monday from Family and Community Trust, the Missouri-based nonprofit partner to Kids Count. Only nine states had higher rates of child and teen deaths in 2023 than Missouri, one of the factors considered in the health ranking. (Those were: Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alaska, Oklahoma and Montana.) Missouri generally ranks among the states with the highest rate of firearm deaths for kids. Firearms became the leading cause of kids' deaths in the United States in 2020, surpassing car accidents. While the national average in 2023 was 29 child and teen deaths per 100,000, that number was 37 deaths per 100,000 in Missouri. The national average rose overall in 2023. The report notes that while covid deaths contributed to the increase, the rise was largely due to rising firearm deaths and drug overdoses, particularly among teens ages 15 to 19. Also bringing Missouri's health ranking down: Missouri's rate of low-birth weight babies increased in 2023 from 2019 and is above the national average. Other factors helped Missouri's score. For one, Missouri has seen major improvements in children's insurance coverage since the state implemented Medicaid expansion in 2021. The rate of uninsured kids fell from 7% in 2019 to 5% in 2023, which is now on par with the national average. Nationally, Missouri saw among the sharpest declines in uninsured people overall from 2019 to 2023 with the expansion of Medicaid. Those gains could be threatened by Congress' budget proposal to reduce Medicaid spending in part by imposing more barriers to care. Teen births in the state have gone down, in line with national trends — though the state's average is still above the national one. The rate of overweight or obese kids has also improved in Missouri and is down to 31% of kids in 2023, on par with the national average. The rate of kids in poverty declined to 14% in the state in 2023, below the 16% national average. Missouri's education ranking slipped in recent years. In 2023, 77% of Missouri eighth graders were not proficient at math, according to the report, which is nearly 10 percentage points worse than 2019 and is worse than the national average. The press release from Family and Community Trust said the data show a 'continuing need to invest in education in Missouri.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Co-owners of Missouri company at center of marijuana recall got greenlight for another license
Delta Extraction's license revocation is the center of a lawsuit playing out in St. Louis courts between a complex web of shareholders seeking to snatch back ownership of a Waynesville facility (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). When the company at the center of a massive cannabis product recall lost the appeal of its revoked business license in February, Missouri regulators moved quickly to ensure those involved would no longer be permitted access to a marijuana facility without supervision. But that punishment doesn't mean those involved with Robertsville-manufacturer Delta Extraction are out of the Missouri marijuana industry. In fact, long after the state initially stripped Delta Extraction of its license in November 2023, regulators approved one of the company's co-owners — AJO LLC — to take over a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Waynesville in May 2024. It's a far bigger operation than Delta Extraction, and it also involves several dispensaries as well. AJO LLC says it was only a passive investor in Delta Extraction, where it owns 50%. The company claims it bought 50% of the Waynesville facility in 2022 and has been running it while awaiting approval of the license transfer last year. But now Delta's license revocation is the center of a lawsuit playing out in St. Louis courts between a complex web of shareholders seeking to snatch back ownership of the Waynesville facility from AJO. They argue the state shouldn't have given its final approval for the ownership change because of AJO's involvement in a company that had a marijuana license revoked. Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department that oversees the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, said the constitution does allow regulators 'to deny approval for ownership changes if approval is not 'unreasonably withheld.'' However, in May 2024, Cox said Delta's appeal of its license revocation was still pending. The final verdict didn't come down until nine months later. 'The totality of the circumstances at the time, including the nature of the ownership change, was not sufficient cause to deny the change,' Cox said. Cox also said the state's administrative rules – which the division drafts to interpret the constitution's intent and that take months to pass – currently do not prohibit individuals who have had a license revoked from acquiring another license. The division, Cox said, is 'reviewing its rules to add further detail to this authority.' A scathing 137-page decision issued in February by the Administrative Hearing Commission denying Delta's appeal of its revoked license concluded the company had a 'corporate culture of lax compliance with regulatory requirements.' Regulators are permitted to revoke agent ID cards for individuals who violate the rules. No one without an agent ID can access a marijuana facility without supervision of someone with a card, though you don't need one to own or run facilities. Within weeks of the Administrative Hearing Commission's February decision, Cox said the state 'revoked several agent IDs for involvement in rule violations associated with Delta Extraction.' In March, cannabis regulators issued AJO principal Josh Corson a notice of pending revocation of his agent ID card, according to documents The Independent obtained through Missouri's Sunshine Law. The notice stated that as an owner and manager of Delta Extraction, he was responsible for 17 cited rule violations, including 'manufacturing and selling bulk distillate in a false or misleading manner due to the failure to disclose that the distillate contained large quantities of unregulated cannabis.' Corson surrendered his agent ID license shortly after receiving the notice, and the other two AJO owners — Ryan Rich and Josh Ferguson — have let their agent IDs expire, Cox said. Cannabis regulators revoked the agent ID cards of four of Delta's contractors as well. AJO has been helping run the Waynesville operation since 2022 with Hi-Rise LLC, which is the other 50% owner. Hi-Rise has no ownership interest in Delta Extraction. Peter Barden, a spokesman for AJO and Hi-Rise, said the companies 'provided complete information' about the owners to the state for the license transfer. In response to Corson's agent ID revocation, Barden said AJO 'was not managing the Delta Extraction facility. It was a passive investor, and no action of AJO has ever been the basis of any revocation.' Yet pages of evidence in the Delta Extraction case – including emails, depositions and testimonies from high-level employees – appear to demonstrate AJO was fully involved in Delta's operations and even initiated the arrangement that led to their revocation. Barden said AJO 'certainly monitors its investments but has not actively managed any manufacturing or cultivation license.' Charles Pullium stood before a St. Louis judge in February in an emergency hearing, anxious to share what he believed would be a smoking-gun update in his lawsuit. It was just days after Delta Extraction had lost its appeal seeking to get its license to manufacture marijuana products reinstated. Pullium is an attorney representing a group hoping to wrestle the Waynesville manufacturing and cultivation license away from AJO and Hi-Rise. If Delta Extraction violated state law to the point where its license was revoked, Pullium argued, its leadership shouldn't have won state approval to operate a different cannabis facility. 'It's a huge case because it involves the revocation of a license,' Pullium told St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty at the February hearing. 'And why it's important in this case is because when people apply for a new change of ownership… they have to answer, 'Have any of you or your owners or anyone had a license revoked or suspended?'' Pullium argued the Delta revocation was key to settling a three-year legal ownership battle, which ended up in St. Louis court in 2023 when AJO and Hi-Rise filed a lawsuit. On one side of the legal battle are AJO and Hi-Rise. On the other side are 19 named individuals and marijuana companies connected to the deal, including St. Louis-based marijuana company Heya, former Missouri House Speaker Carl Bearden and Delphi Management LLC. They argue the 2022 sale to AJO and Hi-Rise was invalid. Moriarty disagreed the new information was worth holding an emergency hearing for and made Pullium's client pay $3,037.50 in attorney fees for AJO and Hi-Rise, which are represented by Dowd Bennett law firm. The lawsuit is ongoing. In January, Scott Sterling, who is involved in the tangled ownership web, filed two complaints with the Division of Cannabis Regulation, alleging that AJO did not provide all the information necessary for the transfer. One crucial detail left out, Sterling contends, is that he never signed off on any sale as a 40% owner. The division has opened an investigation into Sterling's complaint, Cox said, and it is ongoing. Barden said the Waynesville location is legally owned by AJO and Hi-Rise and 'current ownership has never had a license revoked.' One of Pullium's motions in January returned the spotlight to Jason Sparks, one of Delta Extraction's contractors. 'The facts underlying the Delta scandal read like a made for T.V. drama,' the motion states, 'a prior felon… buys out-of-state products from a nameless and unknown 'network'… which he then illegally turns into uncertified product which he then sells to a complicit Delta, who then illegally sells to unsuspecting dispensaries…' Sparks was among the four contractors that had their agent IDs revoked in March, and he has a disqualifying felony on his record that was overlooked by the state when he obtained that ID. However, Sparks directs the blame largely at Corson in legal filings in his company SND Leasing's lawsuit against Delta Extraction. In the spring of 2023, the supply for marijuana distillate was low across the state and Delta hired Sparks to make large amounts of distillate that Delta sold to about 100 other Missouri manufacturers. Those manufacturers went on to produce gummies and vapes for their brands, which is why the product recall was so widespread. At issue was what's in the distillate. Sparks extracted a small amount of THC from Missouri-grown marijuana, which the state heavily regulates. Then he added a large amount of THC oil that was extracted from hemp, a product that is completely unregulated. Regulators pulled 60,000 products off the shelves in August 2023, arguing the use of out-of-state, unregulated THC oil violated state law and posed a public health risk. Corson was 'the person who found the supply for the distillate,' a January motion in Sparks' lawsuit states, and he was the one who signed the contracts. In his lawsuit, Sparks points to the testimony from Delta's COO Rachel Herndon Dunn during an Administrative Hearing Commission hearing in March 2024. Dunn testified that Corson reached out to a large cannabinoid-producing facility in Florida to obtain the hemp-derived THC oil needed to make their recalled distillate. 'Corson went down to tour their labs in Ft. Lauderdale…' Dunn said during the hearing. Sparks claims Delta leadership reassured him that cannabis regulators signed off on the extraction process. 'The reality is that (the state) never gave assurances of regulatory compliance,' the suit states. Delta argued hemp is not a federally controlled substance and the state has no authority to regulate hemp-derived THC products — an argument they lost in their appeal. Also, the products went through a final round of testing before they hit the shelves, Delta noted, so they didn't pose a health risk. Despite the ownership connection to Delta, state regulators told The Independent they've found no evidence of similar practices taking place at the Waynesville facility.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Child care tax credit for businesses introduced in Ohio House
(File photo by Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). A new bill introduced in the Ohio House would create a business tax credit for child care benefits similar to a federal credit the bill's sponsor says is underutilized. State Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, told the House Ways and Means Committee said the tax credit in House Bill 167 would offer a stronger incentive for employers than the federal tax credit does, by bridging a gap in the federal funds available for businesses. The tax credit would also be another attempt to stem a problem that covers all of Ohio, from urban centers to rural regions. 'Let's try something, let's get something going to see how we can get our employers engaged,' White told the committee. H.B. 167 would authorize a nonrefundable tax credit for an employer providing 'certain child care benefits' to employees, allows the credit to be claimed against other taxes like income or the commercial activity tax, and creates eligibility for costs 'associated with establishing or operating an employer-owned child care facility, contracting with a child care facility, or paying employees for the provision of their own child care. Under the current language of the bill, the credit is limited to $500,000 per year, but any unused funds can be carried over for five years, White said. She said she's open to changes to that cap or the carryover language if the committee feels the amounts are too high. The federal credit that's already in place covers 25% of total expenses related to child care services or benefits, and up to 10% of the resource and referral expenses, for a total credit capped at $150,000 per year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX It's a heavy lift for businesses, White argued, since they must spend at least $600,000 to be able to get the full benefit, if they're aware of it at all. 'People don't know about this credit, they don't quite understand how to utilize it,' White said. '…But the other thing is it doesn't help if you, as a business, want to give a stipend for your employee, it doesn't cover that as a tax credit, so this gives employers more options so that they can actually take advantage of it.' H.B. 167 also allows non-profits to utilize the tax credit, unlike the federal credit, White said. The measure comes amid ongoing discussions about the state of child care, and how the economy is affected by a lack of access and affordability for the services in Ohio. Child care 'deserts' exist in Ohio where no services are available for children, and data from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth estimate 40,000 children in the state aren't eligible for Publicly Funded Child Care, meaning they don't receive state assistance to pay for the services. On top of those problems, low pay and high turnover in the child care sector means even if child care exists, the workforce shortages reduce capacity at facilities. White cited recent research by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that found Ohio is losing $5.48 billion every year in economic activity because of 'insufficient child care,' including $1.52 billion in tax revenue and $3.97 billion in losses related to child care employee turnover and absenteeism. 'The business community, our families, are looking for solutions, and this is a solution,' White said. The bill sponsor also echoed comments by ODCY director Kara Wente in supporting the Child Care Choice Voucher Program, which subsidizes child care for those who fall outside the Publicly Funded Child Care eligibility of 145% of the federal poverty line. This is certainly not the first time White has pushed for more child care supports. A bill she co-sponsored establishing child care grant programs for employers was passed last month by the House committee she chairs, the Children and Human Services Committee. State support for child care is uncertain as it is, with the state operating budget draft being drawn up by the Ohio Senate, after the Ohio House finalized its own draft last month. The House's version added $50 million to the Child Care Choice Voucher Program for each of the next two fiscal years, taking from federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funding. Despite a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine to increase the Publicly Funded Child Care eligibility to 160% of the federal poverty line, the House budget draft maintained the 145% level, which Wente said is the lowest eligibility level in the country. Also included in House budget proposal is language originally included in separate legislation, which would create a cost-sharing model for child care, in which the state, employers and employees would all pay a percentage of costs. In a hearing earlier this month, the House Children and Human Services Committee passed the original bill with language they said harmonizes the bill with the budget proposal details. In House Bill 2, the state would pay 20% of the costs, and employers and employees would each pay 40%. During the hearing, however, two Republicans on the committee put concerns on the record about H.B. 2 and White's child care grant program bill, House Bill 41. State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, voted against both bills, saying she had 'concerns about the state subsidizing child care going forward.' State Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, voted in favor of both bills but said the House Finance Committee may have to work on at least House Bill 2, 'maybe look at perhaps some potential reduction in overall funding.' On H.B. 41, Richardson said the finance committee 'should take a closer look at the overall appropriation.' The Senate is currently working on their own draft, on line for an end-of-June deadline for both chambers to reconcile each of their budget drafts and get a final budget to the governor for signature. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Support for child care is popular as Ohio advocates still fighting for funding
(File photo by Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). Polling continues to show government support for child care is a popular issue among all political sides. But advocates in Ohio are still preparing their arguments to boost state support as the budget process rolls on. The Ohio Senate is working toward a draft budget after the House approved its version earlier this month. As the process continues toward its July 1 deadline, child care advocates hope to get some things into the Senate budget that didn't appear in the House version. They say they're important not only for families in need of child care, but also for the state economy and the workforce that supports it. The House proposal included $200 million for the Child Care Choice Voucher Program over the next two years. The funding comes from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. Also included in the House proposal is the establishment of the Child Care Cred Program. It's a provision originally introduced as Republican-led legislation to split the costs of child care three ways — between the state, the business and the employee — when an eligible individual is employed by a business willing to apply for the program. Parents and workers involved with child care space met with advocacy group Groundwork Ohio on Tuesday to discuss the current level of child care support. They also discussed how additional state spending would increase child care affordability and access, and boost the wages of child care workers. Cheryl Rose said when she was a young parent working in food service, child care assistance based on her income helped her remain in the workforce and grow professionally. Now a partner at Constellation Wealth Advisors, Rose said workforce growth is the one thing that will drive prosperity, and workforce growth is possible through support for child care. That support creates longterm ripple effects that may not appear instantly, but will impact the state's financial future for years to come, she said. 'What happens is, 18 years from now, there are companies (growing because of an increase in workers), there are more opportunities,' Rose said. 'It creates multitudes.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Improving the lives of child care workers has its own ripple effects, said Christian Davis, founder of the Cincinnati Parent Empowerment Network. With historically low pay, child care workers are often on public assistance and can't afford food, let alone care for their own children. Bringing wages up and giving workers the ability to thrive boosts the care they can give, she said. 'The quality of your center is really a determinant of the quality of the staff to fill those needs,' Davis said. Groundwork Ohio wants to see the Child Care Voucher Program receive more funding to address affordability, and the group, among others, will to push for an increase to the eligibility level for the state's Publicly Funded Child Care. Gov. Mike DeWine's executive proposal raised eligibility for care to 160% of the federal poverty line. For a family of four in Ohio, that's $51,440. But the House left eligibility at 145% in its version of the budget, a level that the head of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth say is the lowest level of support in the country. The budget also comes at a time when 4 in 10 Ohioans don't have access because of a lack of child care facilities in their area, according to new analysis by Groundwork Ohio. The survey also found that, on average, a mom working full-time spends 27% of her median earnings on child care for an infant. It's worse for moms who are primary earners. Just 32% of Ohio households are headed by women, but they make up 59% of those in poverty, the study found. The average cost for an infant to be in child care in Ohio is more than $12,000 per year, according to Child Care Aware of America. Government support of child care enjoys significant public approval. New polling released by the First Five Years Fund, found 'strong support' among Republican voters for child care-related tax credits at the federal level. The recent polling found that 75% of Republicans think the inability to access or afford child care as a 'crisis' or a 'major problem' for American working families. A majority said expanding child care tax credits would 'strengthen the overall economy.' Of those Republican voters, 83% support increasing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. It might be on the chopping block as congressional Republicans decide what to include in a funding blueprint approved earlier this month. The Trump administration is also considering a proposal to eliminate funding for Head Start, a child care program for low-income households. Head Start is among the programs child care advocates have said should be supported further to improve education outcomes and child care opportunities, rather than be cut. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
