Anna Wolfe

Former Trump adviser Eric Herschmann didn’t grill John Davis so much as paint the disgraced ex-welfare director in Mississippi as a well-meaning bureaucrat surrounded by enablers. 

The initiative is not tied to additional federal funding, but a federal representative said the reduction of red tape will allow the state to target funds for necessary casework.

A bill gaining traction this legislative session could open Mississippi's long-closed youth courts, which oversee both juvenile delinquency and child abuse and neglect cases.

On Thursday, a federal judge will deliver jury instructions, attorneys will present closing arguments and jurors will begin deliberating in the welfare fraud trial of former wrestler Ted "Teddy" DiBiase Jr. 

The CEO of a marketing agency testified that former pro wrestler Ted "Teddy" DiBiase Jr. wanted to develop fitness and Bible phone apps for Mississippi welfare recipients as a way to fight poverty.

The verdict the case of former pro wrestler Ted "Teddy" DiBiase Jr. answers a longstanding question about whether his part in a welfare misspending scheme constituted a crime.

Twelve Mississippians are tasked with determining whether it is a crime to accept welfare funds in the manner that former wrestler Ted "Teddy" DiBiase Jr. did.

The Mississippi Supreme Court stopped a youth court judge from mandating that parents attend her fundraising event after the state Department of Child Protection Services said the mandate could put children and families at risk of separation.

The Office of the State Public Defender argues in a lawsuit that Mississippi officials are jeopardizing the rights of families who find themselves in youth court. The suit was filed Wednesday, days before a change in state law that attorneys say will decrease access to youth court information.

A Mississippi law now prohibits state agencies from disclosing records involving children without exceptions – a change that took effect Wednesday.