“It’s difficult to deal with issues that matter to children and families in Missouri,” said Chant. “We want to support the department and the children’s department. We want to be a good partner. “

Churn is not limited to the upper tier of the state children’s department. In 2020, the agency, which employs around 2,000 people, achieved a turnover of 26%, still less than in some areas of the state government. Household documents indicate that the department earned more than $ 1.6 million in the past year from “increased sales” from child service workers.

Recent interview requests with department heads and department heads were turned down by the usual spokeswoman Rebecca Woelfel. She asked that questions be submitted via email. Woelfel was asked several times by email about the number of employees investigating abuse and neglect nationwide at the regional level and the number of vacancies for these positions. He didn’t answer the question.

“We’re never fully allocated,” said Bradley Harmon, a St. Louis state childcare worker. He is also vice president of Local 6355 of Communications Workers of America, the union that represents employees in the children’s division.

He said secrecy about job allocation became more prevalent after lawmakers and Greitens restricted the bargaining power of unions representing state employees in 2018, for example by not allowing monthly dues to be automatically deducted from their paychecks . Since then, Local has lost 6355 paying members and closed regional offices in Kansas City and Springfield, according to Harmon. The remaining union hall is in downtown St. Louis.