Kansas Department for Children and Families secretary Laura Howard speaks at a May 14, 2024, celebration of new legislation to expand placement options for teens in foster care. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
An independent review of Kansas’ foster care system has found some significant shortcomings.
For starters, too many kids lack timely access to the mental health services they desperately need. Too many children are still spending nights in their caseworkers’ offices because there’s nowhere else for them to go. And as crazy as it sounds, it’s not unusual for kids to find themselves parked in eight different homes or facilities in their first 1,000 days in the system.
None of this is acceptable.
The review, conducted by the National Center for the Study of Social Policy, is part of a 2018 lawsuit in which a group of child advocates, led by Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, accused Kansas of neglecting children in its foster care system. The group asked the court to order repairs.