Greitens announces reform aimed at helping foster kids

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced Friday that kids in foster care will no longer be required to pay the state to get a copy of their birth certificate. This change takes effect immediately, a news release said. 

Danielle Conti, executive director at Foster Adopt Connect SWMO, called the news "wonderful."

Conti said it's common for a child or teen in foster care to not have any important papers like a birth certificate or Social Security card. 

"A large percentage of the homeless youth in Springfield have been in foster care," she said. "If they don't have stable housing, then they are quite often moving around from home to home. They don't have any way to keep track of it."

Foster Adopt Connect SWMO is a nonprofit organization that provides services for boys and girls in foster care, those who are aging out of the system, relatives and foster parents. Helping kids obtain birth certificates is something the organization does frequently.

Conti said it costs about $25 to get a birth certificate.

"If you don't have any income whatsoever, that is going to be a huge barrier," she said. "Typically you have to get your birth certificate, then your Social Security card and then a driver's license. The cost of all that adds up.

"We think it's wonderful, especially for the older youth that are struggling with homelessness and stability," Conti said. "The governor and his wife are really trying to help foster kids and we are grateful for that."

Greitens' wife, Sheena Greitens, recently met with a group of current and former foster kids to learn about their struggles, the release said. Those kids told her that not having a birth certificate made it difficult for them to get a license, learn to drive and get a job.

“The children and young people in Missouri’s foster care system need to know that we’re listening to them, and that we are working every day to make their experiences better," Sheena Greitens said in the release. "I’m delighted that the state is making this change to lower barriers for kids in foster care, which will help them acquire important life skills and have normal childhood experiences.” 

Greitens and the first lady have repeatedly said help for foster-care children is a top priority, and foster families were the couple's first dinner guests when they moved into the governor's mansion in January.

Greitens in February recommended that lawmakers cut the rates paid to state-funded health and other welfare providers, including foster-care families, by 3 percent. The legislature softened those cuts to 1.5 percent, and Greitens signed off on that bill in June.

Later, he said that was a "mistake" and promised to reverse funding cuts to foster families.