Advocates for the digital monitoring tools say they help save lives. Experts warn that the programs have a higher tendency to flag content from certain groups of students, and that more is needed to address youth mental health concerns.
Meg Cunningham
Meg Cunningham is The Beacon’s rural health reporter. She graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism, where she covered state government and health. She spent roughly three years covering national politics, including the 2018 and 2020 elections, at ABC News in Washington. She’s spent over five years covering politics and policy, with the last three of those years focused on Missouri state government, developing expertise on state policy and agencies, democracy and representation, and health outcomes in Missouri. She grew up in the Kansas City suburbs.
Posted inRural
Can grocery stores keep rural Kansas communities vibrant?
Amid expanding food deserts and soaring prices, investments in rural Kansas are keeping small grocery stores afloat.
Posted inRural
As rural maternity care units close, Missouri families lose options
In Missouri, nearly 42% of counties are defined as maternity care deserts, higher than the nationwide average. Rural families face fewer options and greater distances to get OB-GYN care.
Posted inHealth
Rural hospitals in Missouri already struggle to turn a profit. Medicaid cuts could force some to close
Hospitals across Missouri are preparing for reduced revenue and increased costs under President Donald Trump’s new budget plan, which will slash more than $1 trillion from Medicaid spending over the next decade.
Posted inHealth
Looming Medicaid work requirements could clash with Missouri’s backlogs in social services
Missouri has a long history of struggling to process MO HealthNet applications in a timely manner. As states prepare for new federal work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, advocates worry about what the workload will mean for people receiving benefits in Missouri.
Posted inHealth
Missouri-based owner of Burrell Behavioral Health, Comprehensive Mental Health Services plans to merge with Tennessee-based provider
Brightli, the parent company of Missouri providers such as Burrell Behavioral Health and Comprehensive Mental Health, plans to merge with Centerstone. If approved, the deal will create the nation’s largest nonprofit behavioral health provider.
Posted inHealth
How federal Medicaid changes will affect MO HealthNet and KanCare
President Donald Trump’s new budget package cuts funding for programs like Medicaid and SNAP through work requirements.
Posted inHealth
From 911 to 988: How does Missouri’s investment in a behavioral health crisis network improve mental health care?
Behavioral health providers are required to provide free mobile response services to Missourians in a crisis.
Posted inHealth
Hundreds of thousands could lose Medicaid and SNAP benefits in Missouri, Kansas
New estimates show that an estimated 75,000 Kansans and 210,000 Missourians could lose access to health insurance coverage, while 43,000 Kansans and 150,000 Missourians are at risk of losing SNAP benefits.
Posted inHealth
Missouri, Kansas saw combined drug, alcohol, suicide deaths decline in recent research
Kansas was one of five states that saw a small increase in the rate of alcohol-involved deaths.