TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ child welfare agency conducted a snap inspection Friday of Topeka group homes housing unaccompanied immigrant children after Democratic state lawmakers accused Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer of not being aggressive enough in pressing for information about the children.
The afternoon inspection ordered by Colyer resulted a few hours later in a two-paragraph report from the state Department for Children and Families that the five homes operated by The Villages on a wooded 400-acre site just outside Topeka are meeting the immigrant children’s needs. The statement from agency spokeswoman Taylor Forrest did not elaborate on the inspector’s findings.
The Villages has had a contract with the federal government — worth more than $5.9 million over two years — to house 50 unaccompanied immigrant children ages 6 to 18 since February 2017. It’s not clear exactly how many now in the homes were separated from their parents during a recent crackdown on illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said the state “does not manage or have control over” The Villages’ contract but can inspect its homes to ensure that they meet state standards. DCF licenses youth residential centers; The Villages also has two other group homes in Lawrence.
“Our hope and expectation is that these children are returned to their families as soon as possible,” Marr said.
Colyer ordered the inspection only hours after Democratic legislators criticized him during a Statehouse news conference. They suggested that he’s been too passive about seeking answers because he’s in a tough Republican primary race to retain the governor’s office this year.
One of Colyer’s leading GOP rivals is Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a conservative firebrand nationally known as an advocate of tough policies against illegal immigration, and he’s advised President Donald Trump on homeland security issues.
“I believe that would explain his reluctance to enter the fray,” Hensley said of Colyer during the Democrats’ news conference.
Two other Democrats at the news conference, House Minority Leader Jim Ward, of Wichita, and Rep. John Alcala, of Topeka, said Colyer’s decision to order an inspection was a good first step. The three lawmakers, joined by Rep. Ponka-We Victors, a Wichita Democrat, demanded more transparency and details about how the federal dollars are being spent.
Alcala said he also wants to know whether immigrant children are being mixed with troubled youth. He said checking on conditions at The Villages’ homes was his “lowest priority.”
“I don’t think there are any questions about the condition of the facilities,” Alcala said. “They’ve had a pretty good reputation.”
Forrest said in the DCF statement that Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel was satisfied that the immigrant children “are being provided excellent service.”
“From our visit, the children seem to be adjusting well, and are having their needs met,” Forrest said.
Trump on Wednesday ordered an end to family separations amid the political backlash it inspired. Marr said Colyer “stands behind the president and his executive order” ending separations.
The Villages had not been saying how many immigrant children in its care were separated from their parents, as opposed to those who were unaccompanied. Executive Director Sylvia Crawford told Kansas News Service on Friday that The Villages began taking children separated from their parents about two weeks ago but a majority of the immigrant children in the homes were unaccompanied.
The Democrats said they called their news conference after Colyer’s office told them it had no information about the immigrant children at The Villages. Also, they said, The Villages told them it needed two weeks’ notice for a tour — something they had hoped to do Thursday.
Ward and Hensley said they’re skeptical that Trump’s administration did not at least notify a Republican governor that children separated from their parents would come to his state. Ward later said he doubts the federal government would bring the children to Kansas if Colyer objected.
But Marr said it’s unfair for Democrats to accuse Colyer of “colluding with the Trump administration” when they don’t have “any sort of evidence.”
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are demanding that Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer be more aggressive in seeking answers about immigrant children housed in northeast Kansas group homes.
Several Democrats had a news conference Friday to argue that Colyer is too passive about reports that children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed by the nonprofit agency The Villages.
Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said the federal government didn’t notify the administration of its plans and the state has sought information.
The Villages confirmed Thursday that it has a federal contract to house 50 unaccompanied immigrant children at its seven group homes in Topeka and Lawrence. But it would not say whether any of them had been separated from their parents during recent crackdown at the border.