Kruse appointed to Missouri Child Welfare Task Force
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, November 4, 2026
As the judge in charge of the juvenile docket in the Christian County Circuit Court, Judge Jessica Kruse works with children in the courtroom. Out of the courtroom, she is using her experience as a jurist to help kids in a different venue as a member of the Missouri Child Welfare Task Force.
Kruse was appointed to the task force, along with 17 other individuals, by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe in September. She said that they are charged with creating a universal plan of action to promote the safety of children within Missouri’s Child Welfare System.
“Our goals are to develop foundational safety definitions and standards,” she said. “We’re to review and recommend alignment within the statutes and administrative regulations, policies through division of social services and the court rules, so (that) essentially, all the players that are sitting around the table in the child welfare system (will be) speaking the same language.
“And we’re working on operational integration, which would create recommendations regarding protocols and operational framework to embed the proposed safety standards into the daily practices of the child welfare partners. And then finally, we are providing recommendations regarding standardized training and education for the individuals that are within the child welfare system.”
Kruse said that on the task force, she uses her legal training to help ensure that the guidelines will have the correct wording and definitions.
“Words have meaning within the legal system,” she said. “And so, (I’m) making sure that the words that we’re all using have proper definitions. Definitions that I can follow when I’m following the statutory guidance, when I’m following the court rules.
“As a judge, I want to make sure that there (is) clear guidance for the team, clear guidance for families that are going through our system, and that starts with the definition. So, I think part of the contributions that I’m making along with the other judiciary members on this task force is really making sure that we’ve got some clear language that’s being used across all the individuals that are part of this child welfare system, and all the agencies that are part of the system.”
The members of the task force meet in Jefferson City every two weeks, and they are charged with delivering their recommendations by Sunday, Nov. 15 to Mo. State Cindy O’Laughlin, the president pro tem of the Missouri Senate; Mo. State Congressman Jon Patterson, speaker of the Missouri House; Hon. Wesley Brent Powell, chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, and Gov. Kehoe.
As of press time, Kruse said, the task force had only met twice but covered a lot of ground in those meetings.
“Our conversations have been productive,” she said, “and I think it’s refreshing to see so many individuals from across the State of Missouri who are passionate about child safety within the child welfare system. And so, I’m excited to see what we can accomplish after meeting additional times.”
The Missouri Child Welfare Task Force will dissolve on Thursday, Dec. 31.
