Children's Rights

April 30, 2002 - REFORM OF KANSAS CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM LEADS TO TRANSITION PLAN ALLOWING STATE TO EXIT FROM COURT OVERSIGHT

New Quality Assurance Unit to monitor on-going reform; will issue annual public reports on performance of state's Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

All parties in Sheila A. v. Graves, the child welfare reform class-action lawsuit in Kansas, announced today agreement on a transition plan that could end seven years of court-oversight on June 30, 2002 and continue reforms to improve the lives of children in Kansas. As a result of gradual improvement in its child welfare system, the parties plan to agree that by June 30, 2002 the state will come into substantial compliance with the 1993 court-ordered settlement agreement in the lawsuit. Children's Rights, the national child advocacy organization representing the children of Kansas in the lawsuit, and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), defendant in the lawsuit, have agreed on a series of actions involving the state's newly developed Quality Assurance Unit that will help SRS achieve further compliance with the settlement agreement and ensure that the reforms continue to benefit children in foster care once the agreement ends.

The Sheila A. lawsuit was filed in 1989 to improve the child welfare system in Kansas, which was charged with violating the constitutional rights of the children in its care and putting them at further risk of abuse and neglect. Under the Sheila A. agreement, SRS pledged to implement changes in the delivery of child welfare services statewide. Internal auditors and Legislative Post Audit have reviewed and documented SRS' progress twice a year. After several years of non-compliance with the settlement agreement and legal battles over how the system was being monitored, a non-adversarial approach to reform was adopted. SRS has now made substantial improvements in its child welfare system.

"We are delighted to have reached this goal with Children's Rights. By working together, SRS and Children's Rights have improved the child welfare system through a shared commitment to child safety, permanency, and well-being," said Secretary Schalansky. "The involvement of the Governor, the Legislature, and all of our child welfare partners, as well as increased funding, has contributed significantly to our progress."

"As a result of this settlement, and the state's implementation of its terms, children in Kansas are now safer, are now more likely to get adopted or to get back to their families quickly, and have better placements while in foster care," said Susan Lambiase, Associate Director of Children's Rights. "The road to this transition plan has been long and hard, but we are gratified to see that SRS has put real reforms in place and will use its new Quality Assurance Unit to make sure they stick. We are committed to continue working with SRS to ensure these new strategies are institutionalized to enhance the lives of all of Kansas' most vulnerable children."

The significant improvements in child welfare that led to today's agreement on a transition plan were made in the following categories, with some of the more significant changes listed.

Protective Services

The Department is almost completely compliant in this area, including requirements to:
Properly assess and screen reports of alleged child abuse and neglect.
Initiate and complete in a timely manner investigations of child abuse and neglect.
Conduct thorough investigations of reports of abuse or neglect.

Family Preservation/Preventive Services

The Department is compliant, with only one exception, in regards to these requirements.

Case Planning

The Department has made improvements in areas of case planning including:
Completing written case plans in the required time frame.
Providing reports to the court on the child's progress and current placement and, if applicable, progress towards adoption or long-term placement.

Placement Availability

The Department has maintained the required level of therapeutic foster care beds, although there are still inadequate placements for youths 16 years and over.

Adoption

The Department has made substantial improvements in adoption procedures, including:
Children placed for adoption experiencing no more than three moves from the point in time parental rights are terminated until the adoption is finalized.
Children not experiencing substantiated abuse/neglect prior to adoptions being finalized.

Foster Care Caseloads

The Department has achieved nearly complete compliance regarding caseload standards.

Training

The Department is expected to achieve compliance by May 30, 2002 with many of the requirements regarding training of both foster parents and caseworkers.

Information System

The Department has made progress regarding its management information system but has not yet achieved full compliance.

Under the transition plan the parties have agreed to, SRS will ensure that the outcomes achieved during the settlement continue after it exits from court-oversight on June 30, 2002. Children's Rights will continue to be a partner in implementing the transition plan.

The transition plan includes SRS' commitments to the following:

The Department will continue to review any outstanding areas that have not yet reached the level of compliance required by the Settlement Agreement by June 30, 2002 by utilizing monitoring tools such as case record reviews and focus groups.

The newly developed Quality Assurance Unit within the Child and Family Policy Division of the Department will submit, on an annual basis, a public report that sets forth the results of this monitoring. Since the last monitoring report on the Settlement Agreement will be issued in June 2002, the first Quality Assurance Unit report will be due by September, 2003.

The Quality Assurance Unit's annual report will also track the areas reviewed and the methodology used by the federal government in its review of the Kansas child welfare system.

The Quality Assurance Unit will prepare a framework for this monitoring review and report before the expiration date of the Settlement Agreement, June 30, 2002, and Children's Rights and the parties' expert partner, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, will have the opportunity to review and comment on that framework before the Settlement Agreement expires.

Five other states are operating their child welfare systems under active court oversight as a result of child welfare settlement agreements with Children's Rights. Its attorneys are actively monitoring and enforcing these settlement agreements to make sure reforms are improving the lives of children in government custody.

Children's Rights is a national non-profit organization working throughout the United States in partnership with advocates, experts, policy analysts and government officials to address the needs of children dependent on failing child welfare systems for protection and care. Children's Rights develops realistic solutions and, where necessary, uses the power of the courts to make sure the rights of these children are recognized and that reform takes place.