By MADELINE FOX

Before Laura Kelly took over as governor, the Kansas Department for Children and Families overhauled which private companies would manage its child welfare system, and how the department would oversee their work.

Kelly put the brakes on that whole plan in December.

Last week she announced she’d be rolling back major parts of the changes. She canceled grants with two companies and said the state would renegotiate grants with three companies.

The main child welfare programs that DCF outsources fall into two categories: services to kids who have been removed from their homes, and programs aimed to help keep kids safely with their families.

The grants for that family preservation have been scrapped entirely. DCF Secretary Laura Howard said she had concerns about how they were awarded. One company received three regions despite not bidding on one of the regions, and receiving far lower scores in the other two regions than any other company reviewed by the agency.

The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday that that company was Eckerd Connects and that it received the grants because it had underbid its competitors.

Howard said DCF will change the family preservation grants — mostly to take advantage of federal funding from the Family First Preservation Services Act — and put out a new call for applicants.

She said many bidders “just didn’t come to the table” because the grant expectations were higher than was feasible with the amount of money DCF was looking to spend.

“We do need to align outcomes and money,” she said.

In the meantime, the two current family preservation contractors, KVC Kansas and St. Francis Community Services, will have their contracts extended by six months to the end of 2019.

Howard said she didn’t see the same mismatch of grants being awarded to low-scoring applicants on the foster care side. So those grants will just be renegotiated, not scrapped and rebid. DCF is still extending the current foster care contracts — also with KVC and St. Francis — but only by three months.

Bringing in oversight

When the new grant system was announced, then-DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel promised it would improve accountability and oversight. She said it would also offer more transparency into who was tasked with taking care of kids, and how.

But many lawmakers and child welfare advocates don’t think she delivered.

Rather than going through a contract bid process with the Department of Administration — which has previously evaluated companies’ bids, scored them, and awarded contracts — DCF’s new grant process allowed them to pick the companies in-house without that oversight.

The idea was to let the department that knew child welfare best pick the best child welfare providers.

Instead, foster care watchers were flummoxed when grants were awarded to Eckerd Connects. It had many problems familiar to Kansas, including kids sleeping in offices and bouncing from home to home, in its Florida foster care operations. Child welfare advocates were even more perplexed when the Star revealed Eckerd got the grants despite low scores.

“There needs to be a full accounting,” said Benet Magnuson, head of the nonprofit advocacy organization Kansas Appleseed. “I’m encouraged to see the governor seems determined to shine a light on what happened, and why.”

Kelly and Howard are bringing the Department of Administration back into the mix. That department, not DCF, will put out the call for new family preservation providers. And representatives from that department will join DCF staff during renegotiations of the foster care grants.

Why does it matter?

The state is obligated to provide care and services to foster kids in its custody, even when it has outsourced those responsibilities to private companies. Those services aren’t supposed to disappear or get delayed because of who’s handling them.

But some of the high-profile problems at DCF show its struggles. Children have slept in offices, been bounced from home to home, struggled to access needed mental health services and even died from abuse despite calls into the state hotline warning that they were at risk.

The grant system proposed by the previous DCF administration was meant to give DCF more control over the companies it was paying to meet care for children. It was also intended to bring more companies to the table with the hope that more players would mean more resources, more ideas, and better outcomes.

The new system would also mean multiple changes at once — to which companies handled foster care and family preservation, as well as which providers would be responsible for various regions of Kansas. Transitions are chaotic, raising fears about what that upheaval would mean for children already in crisis.

Child welfare advocates are quick to add that that doesn’t mean changes should never be made. In a privatized system, DCF’s ability to reduce the role of or outright drop a private company is one of its tools to make sure that a company delivers on its obligations to kids.

And some were hoping for change, even if it did mean disruption.

Some foster parents are frustrated that they can’t get the services they need from current contractors. Though some were encouraged that Kelly’s administration was taking a hard look at who had been awarded grants, putting the grants on pause left them in limbo about whether changes would be made.

Many advocates, lawmakers and other child welfare observers questioned the necessity of so much transition at once — and whether the changes would actually make foster kids’ experiences in the system any better.

Joni Hiatt, director of Kansas programs for the foster care advocacy group FosterAdopt Connect, says she wasn’t surprised by reports that Eckerd had been chosen over groups that were deemed more qualified by the teams who reviewed family preservation proposals.

“To find out that this was how these contracts were chosen,” she said, “that’s so disappointing in so many ways.”

Putting the grants on hold left foster and birth parents in regions where new companies had been awarded grants in a holding pattern. They had to wait to see if they would have the same company handling their kids’ cases, or if it would change.

With the Kelly administration’s decision to extend out the current contracts for a little while longer, and renegotiate foster care and rebid family preservation, many are hopeful for better outcomes. But that process will take time.

“Children, their birth families, foster and adoptive parents,” Hiatt said, “they’re going to have to wait that much longer to access quality services and promised accountability.”

Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @maddycfox.

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a scam.

According to a social media report from police in Lawrence, individuals have received packages via UPS that request that they serve as a “secret shopper”.

The package includes two letters and a check for $2,900.

The victims are instructed to cash the check, keep $500 as commission, purchase $2,400 in Walmart gift cards, and then send the gift cards to a Mr. Knower.

“This is a scam. The check will bounce and you will owe your bank $2,900.”

Police reminded, “if it is too good to be true, then it probably is.”

Kansas Representative of the 113th District Greg Lewis announced his resignation from the Legislature effective Friday, February 22nd, 2019. Lewis is a farmer and cattle rancher from St. John.

In a media release, Lewis wrote: To the people of the 113th District, I share with you below what I just shared on the House floor in Topeka:

What I’m about to share I do so only that it may in some way be an encouragement to you. Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans of a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”  That certainly speaks of where my heart was Christmas Morning 2018 . . .

The afternoon of Christmas Eve, Susan, myself and our golden retriever, Zoee departed for Kansas City to spend Christmas with our son. 

 Zoee & I went for our morning walk on Christmas.  After returning upstairs I began having problems with my vision, became lightheaded and unstable on my feet. 

I told Susan what was going on and that I was headed downstairs while I could still get there on my own.  Susan came down and I told her I didn’t know what was happening but I thought we should go to a medical facility.  Susan called our son.  We went by and picked him up and he told us which hospital to go to due to a short wait time.  It was a God thing that we ended up at that medical facility which turned out to be a trauma center for strokes, which also means they have a good neurological team.  They thought I was having a stroke but after an MRI, it showed I had a mass on the right side of my brain.

Christmas Day as I sat in the middle of Kansas City at a major medical facility, and thanks to telemedicine that the legislature had just worked on, I found myself speaking to a doctor in Denver, CO.  From time to time we do get some things right in the Legislature.

This mass turned out to be a glioblastoma, high grade level IV, which is a cancerous brain tumor that grows exponentially . . . But that is OK.  I know this tumor cannot defeat my God or His plan of salvation for me and you.

At this point, I have had 3 craniotomies and am currently taking chemotherapy and radiation.

Philippians 4:7 talks about a peace that transcends all understanding.  I can testify to this truth.  God has granted me a great peace with all that has occurred and at times even a JOY which I know comes from my relationship with Him.

My parting advice to you is to enjoy each day, enjoy your family, your friends, your fellow legislators. . . but do not take yourself too seriously.

Serve your District with a servant’s heart.

• This is the House of Representatives.
• This is not the house of self Interest.
• This is not the house of special interest.
• This is the People’s House; long may it serve the People and this Great State of Kansas.

SARCOXIE, Mo. (AP) — Some Sarcoxie veterans are halfway to their goal of raising $22,000 to renovate the town’s Veterans Memorial.

The memorial, dedicated in September 1997, is on the southwest Missouri town’s square, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cole Cummins, a Vietnam veteran, created a design rendering for the renovation.

The design has the original monument surrounded by eight monoliths that will feature plaques of veterans from all wars. Flags for the five military branches, the American flag and a prisoner-of-war flag will be displayed.

Sidewalks will connect the original structure with the new additions and offer easier accessibility. Other features include a granite bench and vegetation around the monument.

Cummins said the group hopes to break ground in the spring.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a wanted suspect on charges following a weekend shooting.

Just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a disturbance in the 2300 block of SE Bellview in Topeka, according to Lt. John Trimble.

Gunshots were reported fired by one of the involved parties.

During the investigation, it was determined that after a family dispute, 24-year-old, Gleand Lee Brock III, fired shots at several people. No one was hit by any of the shots.

Police located Brock a short distance away from the scene and arrested him without incident.

The gun used was also recovered. Brock is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Police booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Aggravated Assault X2, Felony Warrant (Arkansas), Criminal Damage, Theft and Interference

This is the 17th case in 2019 with a charge involving a felon in possession of a firearm reported by the Topeka Police Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money.

The justices have agreed to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.

Both the administration and opponents of the question agreed the court should settle the matter quickly because census forms need to be printed soon.

Arguments will take place in late April. A decision should come by late June.

The case pits the administration against immigrant advocacy organizations and Democratic-led states, cities and counties that argue the citizenship question is intended to discourage the participation of minorities, primarily Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats from filling out census forms.

The challengers say they would get less federal money and fewer seats in Congress if the census asks about citizenship because people with noncitizens in their households would be less likely to fill out their census forms.

The Constitution requires a census count every 10 years. A question about citizenship had once been common, but it has not been asked of every household since 1950. At the moment, the question is part of a detailed annual sample of a small chunk of the population, the American Community Survey.

The case stems from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ decision in 2018 to add a citizenship question to the next census, over the advice of career officials at the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department. At the time, Ross said he was responding to a Justice Department request to ask about citizenship in order to improve enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York ruled in January that the question could not be included, saying that fewer people would respond to the census and that the process Ross used was faulty.

Pressed for time, the administration bypassed the federal appeals court in New York and appealed directly to the justices. The challengers defended the lower court ruling, but acknowledged the need for a quick answer to the legal issue.

It’s rare for the high court to weigh in without the benefit of appellate rulings. Such interventions usually are reserved for national political crises, including the Pentagon Papers case.

The administration has defended the addition of the citizenship question by arguing that courts have no business second-guessing the commerce secretary in performing a basic function of his job.

But Furman largely agreed with the local and state governments and rights groups that sued over the issue. He pointed out that Ross had ignored his own experts’ views that a census with a citizenship question would produce less accurate results and add to the costs.

Documents and testimony produced as part of the trial in New York showed that Ross had begun pressing for a citizenship question soon after he became secretary in 2017, and that he had consulted Steve Bannon, who had been President Donald Trump’s top political adviser, and then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Emails showed that Ross himself had invited the Justice Department request to add the citizenship question.

The judge’s ruling held that Ross’ decision about what to ask on the census was “arbitrary and capricious” under the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

There are at least four other ongoing lawsuits over the question, including a trial in San Francisco that was wrapping up Friday. The Supreme Court, though, is expected to settle the matter with the case it has agreed to hear.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri saw an uptick in reports of discrimination and harassment in the 2017-2018 school year from the previous year, according to new data.

The university’s Office for Civil Rights and Title IX received 750 reported violations of its anti-discriminatory policy last year, up from 693 reports the previous year, the Columbia Missourian reported . The office also saw an increase in the number of reports made against faculty members during that period, from 62 to 106.

“The main goal of the office is to foster a campus climate where individuals can work and go to school free of sexual harassment and any form of discrimination,” said Andy Hayes, the office’s assistant vice chancellor.

Through investigations, conflict resolution and referrals, the office resolved 182 of the incidents reported last year. Forty-six of the cases required the office to conduct formal investigations, which resulted in 11 individuals being sanctioned.

“There are a lot of things that we can quickly resolve,” Hayes said. “It is on those more serious matters where we may have to do the full investigation.”

Hayes noted the university conducts investigations for reports of sexual assault.

But the remaining 568 cases are unresolved, which university officials credit to a handful of reasons, such as the alleged victim not responding to the office’s outreach or choosing not to pursue formal action. Some reports didn’t include identifying information, while other cases were unresolved because the office determined it didn’t hold jurisdiction.

The office also found that reports of sex and gender discrimination, which includes sexual harassment and assault, accounted for nearly 60 percent of all reported incidents last year. Reports of racial and disability-based discrimination declined last year, while reports of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination increased.

LABETTE COUNTY  —  Authorities with a Kansas non-profit animal shelter were busy over the weekend.

On Friday night a rescue team with Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption returned safely to their shelter with  43 dogs from the hoarding situation in Chetopa, Kansas, according to the organization’s social media page.

“No longer will these dogs have to live in their own feces without drinkable water, medical attention or shelter in below freezing temperatures. A lot of these dogs are now in the warmth of foster homes but some of these pups are still in need of foster placement.”

The organization also needs help covering the cost of the vaccinations and spay/neuter surgeries they dogs will need, and medical treatment as some of the dogs have tested positive for heartworms.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for a fatal shooting in 2015.

Fernando Diaz was sentenced Friday for involuntary manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Christopher Galvan.

Topeka police responding to a call of a vehicle crash in east Topeka found Galvan inside a car suffering from a gunshot wound. He died three days later.

Diaz fled to Mexico, where he was arrested in September 2018. He originally was charged with second-degree murder.

Diaz was sentenced to about 10½ years. That will be served consecutively with a 2014 case in which Diaz pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and interference with a law enforcement officer.