{"id":8855,"date":"2026-03-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T12:00:00","slug":"missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri bill hoping to tackle fatherlessness \u2018epidemic\u2019 gets bipartisan support"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
\n

State Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican from Ozark, speaks during Missouri House debate on April 25, 2024 (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications). <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When <\/span>Mark Ludwig<\/span><\/a> lost shared custody of his son more than a decade ago, his life fell apart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe devastation of losing my son who was my sole purpose in life, I couldn\u2019t function,\u201d Ludwig, who lives in the St. Louis area, told the Missouri House Children and Families Committee in late January. \u201cI lost everything from the point where I went from being a pretty decent middle class dad to where I was eating food out of dumpsters at the Aldi\u2026 I didn\u2019t know where to turn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now Ludwig advocates for fathers to be treated equally in the court system. He also drives for Uber in St. Louis where he chats up other dads, many of whom he said share stories of being raised without a present.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got some dads who\u2019ve become disengaged because they feel undervalued,\u201d Ludwig said. \u201cThey feel like they\u2019re unappreciated, they feel pushed out. Like their role isn\u2019t important, so why even try.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ludwig hopes legislation filed by state Rep. Jamie Gragg, an Ozark Republican, can help both uplift and prepare more dads who find themselves unsure how to navigate fatherhood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As he stood before his House colleagues Monday, Gragg listed off example after example of statistics faced by children raised without a father: higher levels of depression, homelessness, substance use, teen pregnancy, incarceration, suicide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is heartbreaking, it is devastating,\u201d Gragg said. \u201cIt\u2019s an epidemic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gragg\u2019s bill would create the <\/span>\u201cMissouri Fathership Project\u201d <\/span><\/a>within Missouri\u2019s Department of Social Services. It would help fund positions at statewide nonprofits and community organizations to support dads who want to \u201creestablish and strengthen relationships with their children.\u201d These professionals would help fathers navigate the court system, job applications or the foster system, for example, so they can be more present fathers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will enable community organizations, nonprofits around the state to bind together and reach out and help those fathers who want to be fathers, but just have too many road blocks in the way,\u201d Gragg said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The House passed the bill on a 141 to 4 vote Monday night. It now heads to the state Senate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tim McConville, the director of strategic engagement with <\/span>Man Up and Go,<\/span><\/a> a Christian-based nonprofit that aims to end \u201cfatherlessness\u201d around the world, is already acting in a pseudo-role.<\/span><\/p>\n

McConville, who is based out of Missouri and testified in support of the bill in January, said he often gets requests from children\u2019s division asking if he can help out fathers navigating relationships with their children in the foster care system. This might mean helping them keep track of court dates, find secure housing or work through common parenting dilemmas.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also helps fathers connect with resources after they\u2019re reunited with their kids, as is the case with one of his current clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a single dad taking care of his two kids,\u201d McConville said. \u201cThat\u2019s when it gets hard, let\u2019s be honest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the nonprofit\u2019s fatherhood initiative in Florida \u2014\u00a0<\/span>where similar legislation was first passed in 2022<\/span><\/a> \u2014 has 26 people on staff, McConville said in Missouri, he\u2019s the only one doing the work locally. This legislation would allow the organization to expand how many fathers it can help by hiring more staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A specialist hired through this program might be assigned to help a father who is struggling to comply with a court-ordered case plan, for example.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Shockingly unique\u2019: Why St. Louis program for antepartum moms is getting national attention<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The legislation makes economic sense, and it can prevent children who have access to a safe home from being traumatized by family separation, said state Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson. And it helps the whole family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be pro-father isn\u2019t to be anti-mother,\u201d Proudie said Monday on the House floor. \u201cIt\u2019s very rare that we give some kind of dedicated attention to males or men who are out here trying to be a part, a healthy part, not just present \u2026 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An amendment introduced by state Rep. David Dolan, a Republican of Sikeston, was added to the bill before it passed out of the House. This amendment would allow any fathers participating in the project who are also complying with court orders and who make regular child support payments to apply for license they may have previously lost, particularly if they were recently incarcerated. This includes limited drivers licenses, hunting and fishing licenses and professional and occupational licenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dolan, a former circuit judge, said fathers often came before his court for nonpayment of child support.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey would look at me and say, \u2018I\u2019m doing the best I can, but how do you expect me to pay this support if I can\u2019t get a job or if I can\u2019t get to a job,\u2019\u201d Dolan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Bryant Wolfin of Ste. Genevieve was among the four Republicans to vote against the bill Monday afternoon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not entirely sure that I\u2019m comfortable with government trying to mold society into being better people,\u201d Wolfin told Gragg during House debate. \u201cUltimately at the end of the day that\u2019s what this bill is trying to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican from Ozark, speaks during Missouri House debate on April 25, 2024 (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications). When Mark Ludwig lost shared custody of his son more than a decade ago, his life fell apart.\u00a0 \u201cThe devastation of losing my son who was my sole purpose in life, I couldn\u2019t function,\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMissouri bill hoping to tackle fatherlessness \u2018epidemic\u2019 gets bipartisan support - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missouri bill hoping to tackle fatherlessness \u2018epidemic\u2019 gets bipartisan support - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State Rep. 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When Mark Ludwig lost shared custody of his son more than a decade ago, his life fell apart.\u00a0 \u201cThe devastation of losing my son who was my sole purpose in life, I couldn\u2019t function,\u201d...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/042524-0461-1-scaled-e1772582962597-1024x614.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brad Hildebrand\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0\"},\"headline\":\"Missouri bill hoping to tackle fatherlessness \u2018epidemic\u2019 gets bipartisan support\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T12:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\"},\"wordCount\":892,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/042524-0461-1-scaled-e1772582962597-1024x614-mtGRsA.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/missouri-bill-hoping-to-tackle-fatherlessness-epidemic-gets-bipartisan-support\/\",\"name\":\"Missouri bill hoping to tackle fatherlessness \u2018epidemic\u2019 gets bipartisan support - 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