Missouri youth

Contracts are in place for a project that will test the wastewater of public schools in Missouri for signs of fentanyl and other drug use.

Kayla Keller and Hannah Pond both work at the Halo Girls Home in Jefferson City, a residential program for homeless and at-risk girls ages 16-21 who are pregnant, parenting, and non-parenting.

Em is a 14-year-old pansexual teen who has known she was queer from a young age. She spoke about coming out as a young person and the support of her family.

Annalise Caul and Moe Warren are both students at the University of Missouri and have been friends since high school. Moe is trans masculine and non-binary and Annalise is an asexual woman. They spoke about how their friendship and their understanding of their own identities has flourished since high school.

According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, more than 150 students dropped out of Columbia Public Schools in the 2022-2023 school year. So, one local group is opening a new center in town that will support kids in traditional and some not so traditional ways.

The CDC has found a decrease in the use of e-cigarettes, but there is still work to be done. E-cigarettes can impact brain development and the CDC has reported a rise in hospitalizations due to vaping related products.

In Missouri, just under 25% of its Head Start centers are within a walkable distance from a public transit spot — making the early childhood program less accessible to families without reliable transportation.

Several hundred people gathered last Friday for the “Keep Hate Out of Health Care'' rally at the University of Missouri.

Officials on Monday announced Washington University's Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital would no longer offer puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgeries to minors, even those who are exempt from a newly enacted ban on treatment for transgender youth.

Officials say tackling St. Louis and St. Louis County’s more than 6,000 abuse and neglect cases will require hiring more investigators.