Audit: Kansas foster care system puts children at risk
Source: Associated Press
Audit: Kansas foster care system puts children at risk
Margaret Stafford, Associated Press
Updated 5:57 pm, Wednesday, July 27, 2016
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Children and Families' continuing struggles to adequately oversee private foster care contractors is putting children in the system at risk, according to a state audit of the agency released Wednesday.
Shortly after the 59-page audit was released, two Democratic senators called for department Secretary Phyllis Gilmore to resign. She defended the agency's efforts to ensure children's safety and said she did not intend to resign.
The Legislative Post Audit found that the agency had implemented only one of nine recommendations it received after a 2013 assessment of services. The department also doesn't ensure that background checks of individuals in foster homes, adoptive homes and those where children are returned to their families are as frequent and thorough as they should be; doesn't complete all required monthly visits to foster homes; doesn't determine if families have the financial resources needed to provide for the children; and approves nearly all requests for exceptions to rules governing foster care homes, auditors said.
Some state lawmakers had sought the audit after reports that children died or were mistreated while in the agency's care. The audit did not address allegations that the agency discriminates against same-sex couples when deciding where to place children. A second audit addressing privatization efforts at DCF is scheduled to be released later this year.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Audit-Kansas-foster-care-system-puts-children-at-8471906.php
