Missouri bill would allow foster kids in unlicensed Christian facilities

By: Steph Quinn

Outlets: Missouri Independent

Published: March 17, 2026

Words: 1,878

Last Updated: 3 days, 22 hours ago

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When Ashlea Belcher looks back on her conversations with young people about Agape Boarding School and Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch, “what set those cases apart was not chaos,” she said. “It was the structure.”

Belcher, a former forensic interviewer and now director of the Children’s Center of Southwest Missouri, said young people who attended the two unlicensed Christian boarding schools described being pinned down using pressure points by their peers as staff members watched, …

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