Thousands of children are entering Kansas’s overwhelmed foster care system, and fewer are exiting the system into the arms of a loving family. In Part I of this two part series, we examined Kansas’s foster care crisis. We looked at the statistics, which show that the number of children in the system as well as those awaiting adoption is approaching an all time high. We then turned to the reasons behind this serious issue.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families so far attributes the high number of foster care children and the low rate of adoption to the faltering economy and parental drug abuse. Child care advocates, however, urge that some recent policy changes to the public welfare system could be contributing to the rise of CINC (Child in Need of Care) cases and families in crisis. Two new policies cut the number of families receiving cash assistance in half, and significantly reduced the number of those eligible for child care assistance. Enactment of these policies appears to correspond with a rise in the number of kids entering foster care, and a decline in the number of children being adopted out of it.
In Part II, we continue our examination of Kansas’s foster care crisis, presenting more possibilities for its cause.
Harder to Find Services
Kellie Hogan, a Legal Services attorney in Wichita, Kansas, said she has found parents whose children have entered foster care appear to be having a harder time finding and paying for the services they need to get their children back. If a parent cannot obtain the community support they need to care for their kids, the children will likely remain in the system. Increasingly, services to assist struggling parents are either not available or have long waiting lists.
Wendy Flickinger is an outreach coordinator for the Family Advisory Council. Her Hutchinson-based program helps over 100 families a year navigate the foster care system. These families are mostly low-wage earners and not eligible for cash assistance. Flickinger laments the loss of some many programs and services that lower income people need to survive.
Psychiatric Care
Dana Frederick, who heads the CASA program in Lawrence, said that she has seen a disturbing increase in the number of mentally ill children entering the foster care system. Previously, these children would have been sent to a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility, located across the state. However, many of these children have been forced to exit treatment as a result of the state’s efforts to diminish costs on psychiatric care and lessen families’ reliance on institutional care.
Prior to the policy changes, over 680 children were receiving psychiatric care in 177 facilities across the state. That number dropped to under 200 children after the policy changes, with the number of facilities dwindling to 11.
Anticipated Efficiencies
Some officials expect the number of foster care cases to drop this year, after several changes are made to the foster care contracts. Kansas’s foster care system became mostly privatized in 1996. Since this time, the state has paid as many as six nonprofit organizations to oversee the foster care, adoption, and family preservation efforts. Earlier this year, DCF announced that two organizations, KVC Behavioral Health Care and St. Francis Community, would be awarded the foster care contracts. Several other non-profits will lose their contracts.
Kyle Kessler, executive vice president of KVC Behavioral Health Care, Inc., states that he anticipates efficiencies in the combining of the contracts.
McDowell Chartered: Putting Children First
The Kansas Family Law Attorneys at McDowell Chartered have decades of experience assisting families in all manner of legal issues, from adoption and paternity to guardianship, conservatorship, and child in need of care cases. Since 1992, our compassionate attorney team has provided quality legal services to families throughout Kansas. No matter what your needs, if they involve children, we are here to serve you. Call us today at (316) 269-0746 for an initial consultation.
