Ensure Language Access
Ensure language access for non-English speakers through enforcement and expansion of Missouri Revised Statute 476.803.1 for courts-related services and addition of statute to include all emergency services, including law-enforcement departments and ambulance services. Consider revision of statute to disallow parents to serve as first-option translators for children in court.
Expand Internship and Apprenticeship Opportunities
Expand internships and apprentice opportunities for eligible high school and college students.
Reform School Discipline Policies
Reform policies and practices that disproportionately impact youth of color and students with disabilities and further compromise their ability to thrive and succeed:Reform rules pertaining to school disproportionality of behavior referrals, suspensions, expulsions, special education, advanced courses, etc. and ensure that multi- tiered levels of support are in place to prevent disproportionality and systems…
Ensure College Counseling for All High School Students
Ensure all high school students have quality college counseling. Not every high school in Missouri has a dedicated college counselor; many times caseload size prohibits meaningful guidance; guidance counseling certification should be reviewed.
Ensure Equitable Access to Rigorous High School Courses
Ensure all high school students have access to rigorous courses with quality instruction. Students need to be exposed to high-level courses in high school to garner the academic skills necessary to enter and succeed in college.
Early Childhood Education
Ensure sufficient early childhood development and education programs to meet the demand and align all efforts around a high-quality model that produces measurable child outcomes:Birth to 3 years of age:Scale-up and integrate, for the region’s most needy children and families, evidence-based early childhood programs for a continuum of care, including but not limited…
End Shame and Stigma
Develop a media campaign to minimize stigma/shame as a singular issue:A vast number of issues (hunger, mental health/illness, homelessness, obesity, poverty, incarceration, etc.) are compounded by the presence of stigma and shame. Showcase the fact that we all suffer from some stigma/shame and through these shared stories and conversations we can become more compassionate,…
Ensure Employer-Educator Collaborations Build a Love of Learning
Ensure all efforts and models designed to align K-12, higher education and workforce development support the social and emotional development of children, youth and young adults and broadly build life-long skills and a love of learning.
School Accreditation System
Revise the Missouri accreditation system (MSIP5). Ensure that the process of revision incorporates the following:Inclusive Participation – ensure that the revision team includes broad representation including:K-12 – district superintendents, principals and teachers Higher education representatives Parents and students Business, philanthropic and community social support representatives Lens Assessment – ensure that the new system…
Negotiate Reasonable and Equitable Transfer Rates
Negotiate a reasonable and equitable transfer rate between local school districts. Without an established tuition cap, unaccredited school districts are at great risk of going bankrupt and further compromising their remaining students’ hope for a quality education.
Amend Role of Assistance Teams
Ensure members of assistance teams are qualified, based on their past performance in failing districts with similar circumstances and omit or change language to “may” consider the recommendations of the assistance teams.
Limit Criteria for Denial of Transfers
No student shall be denied a transfer based on criteria that does not exclude him/her from attending a school in their resident district. Only students who have committed a safe schools violation be ineligible for transfer.
Adopt the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation (VICC) Calculation
Adopt the Voluntary Inter-District Choice Corporation (VICC) calculation of $7,200 as the maximum rate.
Hold Schools Accepting Transfer Students Accountable
Mandate accountability. If districts are going to accept students and funds, they must accept accountability.
Identify Convenient Transfer Schools
Prioritize accredited schools in same district when transferring students from unaccredited schools.
Create School-Based Early Warning Systems
Invest, at the school level, in a quarterly, early warning and coordinated community response system capable of tracking and responding to all students’ successes and challenges.
Support Post-Secondary Access for DACA Students
Support postsecondary access and affordability for residents who are approved under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals):Allow state-supported higher education institutions to charge DACA students resident tuition rates vs. non-resident or international tuition rates. Ensure DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students are eligible for all public financial aid and public benefits afforded to…
Review All State Scholarship Programs
Review state scholarship programs
Expand the Access Missouri Program
Expand Access Missouri:Increase the total budget for Missouri’s need-based scholarship program to at least the FY2009 budget amount of $92 million. Since 2009, Missouri has decreased its investment in Access Missouri, resulting in student aid awards that barely meet statutory minimums. Individual awards fall far short of meeting student financial need.
Encourage Paid Time Off for Volunteering
Promote “volunteer paid time off” for employees, including but not limited to expert giving, mentoring and tutoring.
Review the Missouri Family Support Division
Create a Missouri Blue Ribbon Commission (via Executive Order) to conduct a thorough and inclusive review of the current operating model and outcomes of Missouri Family Support Division
End Hunger for Children and Families
End hunger for children and families:Create policies and procedures that are client- centric. (i.e. Individuals employed in shift work jobs cannot easily answer telephone calls. Failure to answer call forces individual to go to the “back of the line”). Support and advocate for the expansion of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Women,…
Build Safe Neighborhoods
Support sustained, citizen-led efforts to develop safe neighborhoods, particularly the efforts of parents and families impacted by violence, and clergy working to build community and keep watch. Support should include, but not be limited to, planning, coaching, funding and service- provider coordination
Create an Innovative Education Hub
Create an “innovative education center/hub” capable of building an inclusive, collaborative, and multi-disciplined education environment focused on leading our region into the 21st Century from early childhood to post-secondary. All efforts should be coordinated and represented by a broad and diverse constituency including but not limited to school district leaders representing low income districts, engaged…
Create the Spirit of Missouri Fund
Create the Spirit of Missouri Fund Invest in a range of innovations that have a strong potential to impact at a large scale our state’s most vexing challenges. Broadly define innovation as any solution that has the potential to address an important issue, including new business problems, technology, new delivery systems, public policy and/or behavioral…
Launch Best Practice-Driven Job Training Programs
Expand and incentivize transitional job programs containing confirmed critical attributes to be identified by a designated task force appointed by the Department of Economic Development’s Workforce Development Division to serve a greater number of employment-ready individuals including those who are TANF recipients, long-term unemployed, and at-risk youth.
Develop a State Supported Funding Plan for Public Transit
Develop a State supported funding plan for public transit in order to fill a significant funding deficit when seeking federal dollars for transit capital projects requiring matching funds.
Enhance Collaboration Between Educational Institutions and Employers
Enhance and expand collaboration between educational institutions and employers statewide by:Establishing a regional intermediary to ensure greater public-private collaboration in assessing workforce needs and communicating those needs with K-12 institutions, job training programs, and post-secondary education institutions; Developing a regional strategy for aligning educational programs to workforce needs that has clearly established indicators to…
Create Individual and Family Development Accounts
Provide progressive Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and Family Development Accounts (FDAs) offered statewide by means of a dedicated funding stream from the state. Additional potential funding sources include:Using the Community Reinvestment Act to provide banks with credit for funding development accounts; Offering corporate tax breaks for contributions to development accounts; Redirecting unclaimed savings account…
Protect the Rights of Workers to Organize
Protect the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain.
Protect Rights of Local Government
Protect local government’s ability to innovate above the minimum policy standards maintained by the federal or state government to meet the special needs of their community.
Create Universal Child Development Accounts
Expand the current scope of the MOST 529 Matching Grant Program so it is used as a platform for progressive universal Child Development Accounts that are:statewide and automatic (opt-out).
Require Psychological and Bias Screenings
All officers hired by a municipal or County police department shall undergo a full psychological screening, in conjunction with a bias screening, by a Countyapproved psychiatrist or psychologist. New hires shall also receive a full background investigation. All police departments shall contact Missouri POST to review the license status and any known disciplinary history of…
Support Officer Well-Being
The State of Missouri’s respective departments shall implement annual, independent, and confidential mental health and physical fitness checks and nutritional support for officers. (Adapted from Action Item 6.1.2 of Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing report)
Provide Mental Health Services for Officers
The State of Missouri shall support law enforcement agencies with research and funding to offer tailored, independent, and confidential mental health treatments to officers, including a toll-free mental health hotline specifically for officers, anonymously connecting callers to officers who are not in the same agency and who could refer the caller to professional help if…
Increase Funding and Support for POST
The State of Missouri shall provide additional resources that support Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) monitoring, oversight, and investigative roles.
Hold Non-Consolidated Agencies to Shared Standards
The State of Missouri shall require non-consolidated agencies to follow the standards set forth by the “Vision for Policing in the St. Louis Region.” Non-consolidated agencies shall integrate independent civilian evaluation, as well as assessment from all levels of the agency, from line officer to leadership, to ensure accordance with the Vision. Adapted from PERF…
Evaluate Consolidated Departments
Newly consolidated departments shall be assessed periodically through independent civilian evaluation, as well as assessment from all levels of the agency, from line officer to leadership, to ensure accordance with the vision for policing in the St. Louis region described by the Commission.
Create Civilian Review Boards at the County Level
Counties across the state should establish independent civilian oversight boards designed to manage municipal oversight boards and civilian investigations particularly when local efforts cannot sufficiently address incidents under review. In addition, these independent investigative boards shall align with the following characteristics for effectiveness:• Able and authorized to investigate potential criminal wrongdoing by officers and…
Create Civilian Review Boards at the Municipal Level
Municipalities (community organizations, municipal governments) shall establish independent civilian oversight boards designed to meet the unique needs of each municipality. In addition, independent civilian oversight boards shall have the power to review non-confidential police data and engage in regular meetings with police upper management to advise them on policies and practices. The purpose of the board shall be to identify any administrative, supervisory,…
Clarify Public Record Laws
Legislative bodies within the State of Missouri shall update public record laws, such that the relationship between public access and privacy of individuals is clarified. Policies and practices should at a minimum increase transparency and accessibility, provide access to information (e.g. crime statistics, characteristics of use of force incidents, current calls for service, department organizational…
Fund Technology Storage
Law enforcement agencies statewide shall receive additional resources to support technology storage fees. (Adapted from Recommendation 2.3 of Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing report)
Update Use of Force Statute for Fleeing Suspects
Update use of force statute to reflect the United States Supreme Court decision Tennessee v. Garner, which states that, under the Fourth Amendment, a law enforcement officer pursuing a fleeing suspect may not use deadly force to prevent escape unless “the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of…
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