Foster Care Update

New Case Management Provider Contracts

State fiscal year (SFY) 2025 is the first year of the newly negotiated contracts between the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and case management providers (CMPs) of foster care. DCF will continue working with TFI, KVC Kansas, Cornerstones of Care, and Saint Francis Ministries. New to this contract is EmberHope, which will replace Saint Francis Ministries in Sedgwick County only. The contracts are in place from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2028, with an optional renewal for four more years in 12-month periods.

The new contracts implemented the following key changes:

• Caseload standards for case managers. This adjustment reduced the caseload from 25 to 30 cases per case manager to 12 to 26 cases;
• Additional required positions. Three positions were added to each contractor: an Independent Living coordinator; an IT position to collaborate with DCF’s Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System; and a discharge transition position to help assist children leaving foster care; and
• Change in payment model. A prospective payment model, rather than retrospective, was adopted to allow for better stewardship of financial resources by the providers.

Kinship Care

Research shows that children and youth placed with relatives experience fewer placement changes, report better mental health outcomes, and have better permanency outcomes. In September 2023, the U.S. Administration for Children and Families issued a final rule that allows states the option to use kin-specific foster care licensing or approval standards and provided a process to access federal Title IV-E dollars for kin placements. States are encouraged to limit the kin-specific licensing standards to the less rigorous, federal safety requirements rather than adopt the safety standards for non-kin foster parents. Note: Kin-specific placement has been allowed, but foster care maintenance payments to families were fully state-funded. The rule changes the financing structure to include federal dollars.

This change will allow states to more easily license kinship providers as foster care providers. These licensed kinship families will be allowed to choose a sponsoring agency, identify a home worker to provide crisis intervention, have more access to training, and be eligible for paid respite care.

An update on Kansas families engaging in this new kinship licensing process will be provided to the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group when it meets during the fall of 2024.

Foster Care By the Numbers

DCF reports Kansas has a 24 percent decline of children in foster care since 2019 (7,588 in SFY 2019 to 5,792 in SFY 2024). Additionally, fewer children entered foster care in SFY 2024—a total of 2,578 children in SFY 2024 compared with 4,212 children in SFY 2018. DCF credits the State’s investment in preventative efforts to keep families together, including the Families First Prevention Service Act and local Family Resource Centers.

However, compared nationally, Kansas continues to be identified as a state with a high removal rate. In federal fiscal year (FFY) 2022, Kansas ranked seventh, with 4.40 removals per 1,000 children compared with the national average of 2.34. In FFY 2023, Kansas ranked tenth, with 3.84 removals per 1,000 children compared with the national average of 2.22.

Approximately 61 percent of children who are removed from the home are removed due to abuse or neglect, and 39 percent are removed as the family undergoes an assessment to determine future outcomes. The percentage of children removed for abuse and neglect has decreased over time, and the percentage of children removed during a family needs assessment has increased as the State invests in prevention efforts aimed at keeping families together.