Tag: Kansas

Family and friends who take on foster kids in Kansas say they need more support from the state

Kinship placements can be a better option than a licensed foster home, but kinship parents say they need more support

by Blaise Mesa, Kansas News Service and KCUR

Topeka — Twila Lasiter worked in a special needs foster home for more than two decades. That taught her how hard the foster care system can be on children.

When a family member’s child entered the system, she took on the job of being a kinship foster parent.

Kinship placements put children with family members or close family friends, like coaches or teachers, instead of a foster home with strangers. It is seen as a better alternative to a regular placement because children are with people they are more familiar with, often in the communities that they know.

But kinship parents in Kansas say they can feel exploited by the system, dumping monumental responsibilities on families without the backing they need to look after children in crisis. They say placements are rushed, they are offered little help once the child is in the home and that children often stay in their homes years longer than expected.

Lasiter learned only after taking the children that they had multiple court appointments in the next few days. The courthouse was two hours away, yet the social worker never checked to see if Lasiter had a car or driver’s license and whether she had to work.

“It was extremely rushed,” she said. “It’s pretty much, ‘Here are these kids, you take care of them and forget that we exist.’”

Lasiter struggled to get a psychological evaluation even though the children’s needs were documented.

Eventually, she wanted to become a licensed foster home so she would go through training and be better prepared to care for the children. Licensed foster parents also get paid more to cover their costs. Her social worker told her licensing wasn’t required and didn’t help her get licensed. Eventually, Lasiter got it on her own.

Because kinship parents are paid less Lasiter thinks the state is rushing placements to kin to “save money in the long run.” The state denied any financial motivation.

Some of the private contractors that handle kinship placements said they have heard similar complaints before.

Programs available to parents do vary by agency, but support groups for parents, day care assistance and transportation help can be available. Some agencies are hiring more managerial and support staff to focus specifically on kinship placements.

Evan Wood, director of kinship care with KVC Kansas, said his department had seven workers and now employs 39 people to work on kinship cases and is trying to hire five more. He said that’s allowed staff to check in with parents more frequently and advocate for their needs.

“(KVC Kansas) has found that we need to invest more and more in supporting those families,” Wood said. “We don’t live in a perfect world where I think all those things could be completely addressed, but we want to do our best and we want to hear that feedback.”

Statewide, the Department for Children and Families partnered with the Children’s Alliance of Kansas to create an online training program called Kinship Origins.

The Origins training program is less than a year old, but the next iteration of it could be coming soon.

Parents can spend 15 minutes or multiple hours taking the online training, said Cris Moody, the training program manager for Children’s Alliance. It has video interviews from other foster parents, slides that help parents through problems they may encounter and includes information on the basics of the child welfare system.

“Origins is the starting point,” he said. “It’s where parents can turn to first and hopefully start to answer some of those questions.”

The changes and upcoming developments do address some foster parent concerns, but Stephanie West-Potter remains skeptical. West-Potter is the chair of the Kansas Foster Accountability and Advisory Board. The group was created as part of a settlement of a lawsuit that accused DCF of neglecting foster children.

She said the additional support is good, but she has not seen it working in practice. West-Potter still hears parent complaints even though some of the support programs are in place.

“We’re all just in a pretty bad place right now,” she said.

Kansas wants to increase the number of kinship placements in the coming years. Currently, about half of children were placed in family foster homes while 42% were placed with family or close friends —kinship placements. DCF wants to increase kinship until it accounts for 50% of placements.

Blaise Mesa reports on criminal justice and social services for the Kansas News Service in Topeka. You can follow him on Twitter @Blaise_Mesa. Foster parents hoping to talk about their experiences in Kansas can email him at [email protected].
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/2022-02-08/family-and-friends-who-take-on-foster-kids-in-kansas-say-they-need-more-support-from-the-state

Kansas women struggling to re-enter workforce as affordable childcare remains scarce, report says

by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — New research from a women’s economic and civic advancement group and the University of Kansas draws connections between rising unemployment among women, difficulty accessing child care and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Status of Women in Kansas report released Wednesday found the impacts of COVID-19 are disproportionately affecting women. Caregiving responsibilities, the closure of in-person schools and working from home have had a significant impact on women’s employment, report findings indicate.

For example, in the quarter before COVID-19, women accounted for 32% of unemployment claims, but after March 2020, women averaged 46% of the claims. The unemployment rate for women peaked at just over 16% in April 2020.

Wendy Doyle, president and CEO of United WE, said research from the McKinsey Global Institute showed increased women’s participation can lead to as much as a 10% to 15% increase in economic activity in the state.

“We have a long, 30-year history of investing in evidence-based research and data to drive nonpartisan policy solutions to reduce barriers for women and their families,” Doyle said. “When we reduce these barriers, it helps everyone, including our state’s economy, to flourish.”

The study follows up on a similar report from 2016 aimed at centering issues women in Kansas are facing. In response to the 2022 report, a women’s economic development task force is set to dive into issues of women’s participation in the workforce.

The Kansas Women’s Economic Development task force will conduct town halls across the state to hear firsthand from women about experiences and challenges before and after the onset of the pandemic. Panel work and town hall results will feed into a report with results, key findings and potential recommendations for policymakers and advocates to tackle.

“We are working right now to put (the task force) together and really have varied representation by geography and industry of women … to create awareness of the town halls to encourage women to participate and engage in the conversation,” Doyle said.

One major area in need of extra attention is a lack of access to affordable child care, which Donna Ginther, director of the Institute for Policy and Social Research at KU, said pushed many women out of the labor force during the pandemic. Now, she said, it is holding many women back from re-entering the workforce.

“Infant care is less affordable in Kansas than in other states,” Ginther said. “The average annual cost of infant care is about $11,000 a year, which is close to 30% of the median woman’s income in the state. So, if a woman works, and she wants to put her child in high-quality infant care, it’s going to be a third of her paycheck, and that’s too high.”

Ginther said high-quality child care costs are comparable to college tuition for in-state KU students. She noted that 300 licensed child care providers closed in 2020 in Kansas, making cost and accessibility growing issues.

The report also indicated that for every dollar earned by a man in Kansas, women made only 78 cents in 2020. This is less than the national average of $0.82 per dollar.

“Factual data is the first step in telling an accurate story of the lives of Kansas women,” Ginther said. “This research validates the importance of removing barriers and advocating for policies that support women, ultimately making families and communities healthier and the economy stronger.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/02/kansas-women-struggling-to-re-enter-workforce-as-affordable-childcare-remains-scarce-reports-says/

January tax collections in Kansas exceed estimates

January total tax collections in Kansas have exceeded estimates, according to a news release from Gov. Laura Kelly.

Total tax collections were $944.5 million in January, which was 14.5 percent more than the month estimate, according to the governor’s office. It was an 18.7 percent growth over January 2021.

“Over the past three years my administration has taken steps to restore the Kansas economy, and that fiscal responsibility has paved the way to provide direct tax relief to Kansas taxpayers,” Gov. Kelly said in the news release. “That relief will come specifically through proposals like axing the state’s sales tax on food. I urge the Legislature to send a clean bill to my desk quickly, so we can get this done for Kansas families.”

Individual income tax collections were $542.2 million. That is $82.2 million, or 17.9%, more than the estimate and 18.4% more than the previous January. Wage withholding remains strong going into 2022 reflecting both improved statewide employment and accompanying wage growth.

Retail sales tax collections were $258.2 million for January. This is $18.2 million, or 7.6%, more than the estimate and 14.9% more than January 2021. Compensating use tax collections also exceeded estimates by 5.2%. Those collections are also 30.2% more than the previous January. Both retailer’s sales tax and compensating use tax collections established new monthly collection records in January 2022.

“Individual income tax, corporate income tax, retailer’s sales tax, and compensating use tax all continue to perform well as the state’s primary revenue sources,” Secretary of Revenue Mark Burghart said. “Increased holiday spending in December accounts in large part for the record sales and compensating use tax collections in January.”

According to sales tax distribution figures on the Kansas Department of Revenue’s website, Wyandotte County had $2.45 million in January 2022 sales tax distributions compared to $2.2 million in January 2021, an 11 percent increase.

Kansas City, Kansas, had sales tax distribution figures of $3.26 million in January 2022 compared to $3.6 million in January 2021, for an 11.5 percent increase.

For sales tax reports, see https://www.ksrevenue.gov/prsalesreports.html.

  • Information from Gov. Laura Kelly’s office