Family Services
Family Assistance Programs
Temporary Assistance
The Temporary Assistance Program provides assistance to needy families with children so they can be cared for in their own home by promoting job preparation, work and marriage. Funds may also be used to prevent non-marital pregnancies and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
To learn more about temporary assistance and to see if you qualify, visit your Family Support Division Office.
Additional Assistance Programs
- Food stamps
- Assistance paying home utility bills
- Vaccines for needy children
- Find a health care provider
- Health services for uninsured women
Related Topics
Child Support
For Parents & Legal Guardians
Custodial Parents
- Arrange direct deposit of support payments
- Using the SecuritE Card – a prepaid debit care for support payments
- More information for custodial parents
Noncustodial Parents
Child Support Information for Employers
Adoption
- Adoption Home Assessment Application and information
- People interested in adopting children through the Missouri Children’s Division (CD) may use this form to begin the adoption assessment process.
- Contact Information Registry
- The Adoption Information Registry is a service by which adult adoptees and biological parents or adult siblings may indicate their desire to be contacted by each other after all parties sign agree to contact.
Adoption Resources
Foster Care
Foster care, out-of-home care and aftercare
- Out-of-home care is provided in situations where a parent or parents are incapable of providing a child or children with adequate social, emotional, and physical care.
- Aftercare provides a range of services to a child, and to the child’s parents, upon the child’s return to the biological home.
Learn more about foster care, out-of-home care and aftercare.
Career Foster Parents Program
Families and individuals interested in providing care for children and youth with elevated needs must have a contract with the Children’s Division as a Contracted Level B resource provider.
Older Youth Program
Nationally, 20,000 youth emancipate from the foster care system each year when they reach eighteen. The Older Youth Program helps these young adults move stably towards adulthood.







