On January 22 and 23, 2019, Hina B. Shah, M.P.H., KHI Analyst, provided testimony to the House Committee on Children and Seniors about the work completed by the Child Welfare System Task Force working groups. She gave a similar presentation to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on February 14, 2019.
The testimony included information about the structure of the three working groups and the process they used to develop recommendations to improve and strengthen the child welfare system. It also included a list of recommendations prioritized into three tiers by the task force, along with a summary of the rationale for each recommendation and the proposed set of strategies supporting it.
The Child Welfare System Task Force was established in 2017 as directed by House Substitute for Senate Bill 126. The 20-member task force, which convened three working groups, was charged with studying the administration of child welfare by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), protective services, family preservation, reintegration, foster care and permanency placement. KHI staff provided administrative and facilitation support to the three working groups.
Read the report of the working groups online:
*Note: This link leads to the DCF website.