Uncover the truth behind the significant number of calls to the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, which, contrary to common belief, often do not signal neglect but rather point to poverty-related issues like housing instability and food insecurity.

Judge Darrell Missey, Director of the Missouri’s Children’s Division will discuss his initiative of introducing prevention workers across the state, whose role is to engage with families before challenges escalate. He will elaborate on how preservation services are essential in both responding to immediate needs and proactively strengthening families by connecting them to vital resources. By focusing on these underlying socio-economic hardships, the state can offer meaningful support that addresses the real challenges they face.

Featured Speaker

Judge Darrell Missey, Director of Children’s Division at Missouri Department of Social Services

Darrell Missey graduated from Truman State University, in Kirksville, MO in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science.  He then attended St. Louis University School of Law, graduating in 1992.  After law school, Darrell Missey practiced law at the Wegmann Law Firm in Hillsboro, MO, where he engaged in general civil practice, which included a large number of juvenile delinquency and dependency cases.  He was elected associate circuit judge in 2002 and was assigned the juvenile docket at that time.  He was elected Circuit Judge in 2014 and served as Presiding Judge of Jefferson County from 2016 – 2020, during which time he also served as Administrative Judge of the Family Court.  During his time as judge, he served on Missouri’s Family Court Committee, the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative Replication Team, the Detention Standards Review Committee and the Children’s Services Commission.  He left the bench to assume the duties of Director of Children’s Division in January 2022.

Darrell has been married to his wife, Andrea, for 34 years, and they have three adult daughters.

This event is co-sponsored by the Clark-Fox Policy Institute, Center for Social Development, Center for Violence and Injury Prevention, Social Policy Institute, Hermann Center for Child and Family Development, Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment, Policy, Research and Training, Center for Community Health Partnership & Research, and the Institute for Public Health.