Why a drug treatment tool to protect Missouri kids is underutilized in the St. Louis area

A startling report looking into 2022 fentanyl deaths is shining new light on something called Temporary Alternative Placement Agreements, or TAPAs. They’re aimed at steering parents who may be struggling with substance abuse to drug rehabilitation programs while their children stay with a relative.
According to an open records request from @stlpublicradio, TAPAs were only used around 84 times in St. Louis and St. Louis County from August 2021 to late April 2024. By contrast, they were used nearly 800 times in a swath of southwest Missouri. Children’s Division director Darrell Missey attributed the sparse use in the St. Louis area to staffing shortages.
The inconsistent use of TAPAs is part of a litany of concerns from child welfare advocates and lawmakers, including the relationship between Children’s Division and juvenile officers. Some also contend the fentanyl report highlights concerns with how Missey and Children’s Division have handled neglect cases, especially with the agency in triage mode because of struggles hiring investigators.
“These cases that we reviewed were neglect cases,” said Missouri Network Against Child Abuse’s Jessica Seitz, who was part of the committee that looked into the fentanyl deaths. “It is a fact that a majority of reports and cases in the Children's Division are neglect. Where we may not be on the same page, and where I have concerns based on my work with this committee, is how and when neglect is being triaged.”
Missey said investigators plan to treat evidence of fentanyl the same way they react when they uncover child abuse.
“I’ve messaged this already and I’m messaging it now: If we see a child who has been exposed to fentanyl, we need to act just like they’re being physically abused and protect them with whatever tools we have,” Missey said.
To read @jasonrosenbaum’s examination of how Missouri deployed TAPAs, go to stlpr.org.
Cover photo: @theorwelling