KC Star Lays Out Laura Kelly’s Foster Care Failures

Photo credit: Charlie Riedel, AP

In a brutal exchange during Saturday’s first debate Democrat Laura Kelly was forced to defend her administration’s record at the Department of Children and Families and the Kansas foster care system. Derek Schmidt pushed back hard saying in Kelly’s four years, things still haven’t improved.

So The Kansas City Star took a look yesterday and asked, “Kansas Gov. Kelly said foster care was in ‘crisis.’ Four years later, has she fixed it?” The short answer: Not even close.

“Democrat Laura Kelly has said repeatedly how proud she is of her record at the Kansas Department of Children and Families, but this new report shows there isn’t really much to be proud of,” said RGA spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez. “Kelly hasn’t just failed to clean up Kansas DCF and put vulnerable Kansas children at risk, she’s also chosen to use the Department’s limited time and state resources to aid her campaign instead of staying focused on the mandate it is clearly failing to live up to.”

Read the full report from The Kansas City Star here and an excerpt below:

“Kansas has had among the highest percentage of children who ran away from foster care, according to a federal report released earlier this year that measured runaways both before and during the Kelly administration.

“Kansas was one of only four states that reached 7%, the highest percentage recorded among the states, along with Delaware, Maryland and Nebraska, said the report, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services Office of the Inspector General. Additionally, a state audit of Kansas foster care released in March found that the number of missing children had been consistent in recent years.

“A review by The Star of state documents, as well as interviews with officials, advocates and others intimately familiar with the state’s child welfare apparatus shows that Kansas still hasn’t achieved several key performance standards.

“‘We have seen notable points of progress. We’ve seen notable changes. But the system is not fixed by any stretch of the imagination and still needs continued work,’ said Mike Fonkert, director of the Just Campaign at Kansas Appleseed, an advocacy group that includes foster care as an area of focus.

“The foster care system continues to move children between homes too often. Children aren’t kept with siblings or placed with relatives enough to meet federal standards. And Kansas still hasn’t fully eliminated the practice of children sleeping in the offices of contractors who operate the state’s privatized system, despite promises to end it.”