To children in state custody because of abuse or neglect awaiting adoption, time is truly of the essence. Delays in the legal system can be devastating to a child awaiting permanency.

In an effort to reduce barriers involved in moving children who are in the custody of the state toward adoption, a $750,000 grant has been awarded the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services by the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

The funding, to be awarded over three years, will allow SRS to contract with Kansas Legal Services to establish an Office of Children's Council to be staffed by lawyers with expertise in the adoption process. These lawyers will be available to social workers and others across the state who are working to move children in state custody into adoptive families. The Office of Children's Council will also provide training about the adoptive process to social workers and guardian ad litems in both public and private agencies.

"We have an obligation to move children whose parental rights have been terminated quickly to an adoptive family," said SRS Secretary Rochelle Chronister. "For many reasons, the adoption process often gets bogged down and moves too slowly. This grant will help us make that process move more quickly, for the good of children."

SRS and Lutheran Social Service of Kansas and Oklahoma worked on the grant application. Lutheran Social Services, which subcontracts with other adoption agencies, has been the state's adoption contractor since October, 1996.

The Office of Children's Council will be staffed by a supervising attorney and three field attorneys. The attorneys will be available to help both private and public agencies involved in the adoption of children in state custody. They will also provide training for social workers, guardians ad litem and others.

One goal of the training will be to increase the forensic skills of social workers, who often are called upon to write reports or testify in adoption cases. The first training is already scheduled for October 22.

The Office of Children's Council will be headquartered in Topeka. It is likely branch offices will be established in Kansas City and Wichita, as well as in western Kansas.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001