‘It’s about time.’ Kansas lawmakers pass bill aimed at improving troubled child welfare

After a years-long battle to pass legislation for an Office of Child Advocate in Kansas, lawmakers finally got it done.

Lawmakers had been split over how to create the office that would handle complaints about the state’s troubled child welfare system and who should control it. But last week, lawmakers from the House and Senate got together and worked on the measure again and ironed out their differences.

When it came to the final vote Thursday night, the legislation had little dissension. The bill is now on Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk awaiting her signature.

“While I’ve always been a strong supporter, I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure it was ever going to make it to the finish line,” said Lori Ross, founder and CEO of FosterAdopt Connect. She applauded Rep. Jarrod Ousley, D-Merriam, and “many other champions,” who pushed for the bill for several years.

Ousley became a strong advocate for the legislation more than six years ago. Since then, the issue has been hotly debated with many fearing that lawmakers would never reach an agreement on the specifics of the bill

“I was driving in this morning and I was thinking ‘it’s about time,’” Ousley told The Star on Friday. “We’ve been waiting a long time on this and I feel like we got a good product, I feel like consensus was made.”

What the legislation would do is basically put into law what Kelly did with an executive order nearly three years ago. When lawmakers were unable to come up with a bill that was agreeable to both sides, Kelly established the Division of Child Advocate within the Office of Public Advocates in October 2021.

“It’s exciting to see them finally get it codified and put into statute,” said Mike Fonkert, deputy director of Kansas Appleseed which has worked with lawmakers for several years on the legislation. “We didn’t want it to be something that went away when Gov. Kelly was out of office.

“I think that just adds to our hope that this will be a long-standing thing to benefit kids.”

According to the legislation passed late last week, the child advocate would be appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The person selected would serve a term of five years or until a successor has been appointed and confirmed.

Under the legislation, the Office of Child Advocate would be required to compile, collect and preserve a record of complaints that are received. Those complaints can reveal concerning patterns inside the child welfare system, which in Kansas has been under scrutiny for many years, that may need to be addressed.

Some complaints, if they can be “independently verified,” could lead to an investigation.

The bill would also require the child advocate to submit an annual report to the governor, the Legislature and judicial branches. Those reports would include the number of complaints received, their dispositions and any recommendations made to improve the child welfare system.

“This bill allows for independent review of actions taken by people working in the systems designed to protect our most vulnerable children,” Ross said in an email. “It creates a real time opportunity for examination of trends and identification of problems that can and should be solved via a direct feedback loop.

“It also gives a voice to the concerns of average Kansans who may have very real concerns about the children and families impacted by our child welfare system.”

Ross said she and others serving kids and families in the Sunflower State “welcome” the scrutiny.

“We should all be willing to take in feedback from the community we serve,” she said, “and to continually learn and grow.”