One of the few blessings of age is perspective. By the time you’re 30, you’ve seen a lot, and by the time you hit 50, you feel like you’ve seen it all. Some would call it wisdom, but really it’s just having the experiences to know what probably comes next. A been there, done that mentality, so to speak.

Teenagers, God bless them, don’t have that knowledge to draw on. They make rash decisions now and then, and act impulsively. They fall, and as a parent or guardian, you teach them to get back up. Mistakes are how we grow, how we learn, and that’s what being a teenager is about. 

Sometimes, though, even in youth—maybe especially in youth—we make decisions from which there is no going back, that define the rest of our lives.

Under current law, if a teenager in the foster system chooses to leave at the age of 18, that’s it. They are no longer wards of the state, and there’s no reversing the decision, even if they encounter problems when they enter the real world.

Unlike a lot of teenagers, these teens don’t have a safety net to catch them if they fail. They lack a lot of the resources and guidance other teenagers have. Many become homeless or incarcerated within a few months of leaving, and it begins a cycle that is incredibly hard to break.

This week, the Legislature sent to the governor Senate Bill 208, which would allow teenagers who have left foster care to petition the court to return to the custody of the Children’s Division of the Department of Social Services.

People deserve a second chance, especially children, who don’t always act in their own best interests. This legislation will let those teenagers who faced difficulties on their own return to the care of the state until they’re 21 years old.

The act gives these teens a better chance at becoming responsible, productive citizens, which benefits the entire state. It’s a small change in policy that could have a big effect on the lives of these teenagers. The bill is now before the governor.

On the other end of the legislative spectrum, we sent Senate Bill 1 to the governor this week, just a day before the end of session. Addressing the shortfall in the Second Injury Fund was one of our highest priorities this year. The fund’s insolvency has been an ongoing problem for years now. There are countless citizens who have yet to receive their workers’ compensation checks. It also left a ton of uncertainty for business owners, and there are few things that drag down economic growth more than uncertainty in the market.

Senate Bill 1 establishes priority for paying fund liabilities, starting with expenses relating to the legal defense of the fund, followed by permanent, then partial, disability awards in the order in which they were settled or finally settled by the court system, followed by medical expenses incurred prior to July 1, 2013 and the interest on unpaid awards. The act also implements a funding mechanism to bolster the fund in instances of a shortfall, allowing a maximum supplemental surcharge of 3 percent. The rate will return to normal once all backlogged claims are paid out or by Dec. 31, 2021, whichever comes first.

Missouri’s workers deserve to know they’ll receive fair compensation for injuries sustained on the job. Our state’s employers also need to have some certainty that the fund they’re paying into will do what it’s supposed to do. This bill will address those concerns. It’s a fair-handed fix to a very complicated problem. The measure now goes to the governor.

With that, we come to the end. The Legislature will adjourn for the year this evening at 6 p.m. Barring a special session, we won’t return to the Capitol until September for the annual veto session, which will last a day at most. As Mark Twain famously quipped, “No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”

The citizens of Missouri can now rest easy.

Contact Me

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions, and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2459. You may write me at Wayne Wallingford, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or email at wayne.wallingford@senate.mo.gov or www.senate.mo.gov/wallingford.