Kansas Department of Children and Family Services continues to face strong backlash in Kansas, largely related to the most recent dust up — court documents showing that the state office used political power and manipulation to remove a child from a home that provided gay parents. The documents from the court show that the state worked behind the scenes to manipulate the results. District Judge Kathleen Sloan clarified the situation.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/12/5/1457219/-Judge-Unseals-Bombshell-Kansas-DCF-Engaged-in-Witch-Hunt-Practices-Against-LGBT-Homes
“In essence, DCF conducted a ‘witch hunt’ and made a concerted, purposeful effort … to obtain negative information … because they are homosexual women in a committed relationship,” Sloan wrote.
When asked if the department was biased against LGBT Couples, Director Phylis Gilmore seemed to confirm this to be the case.
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/307b94a434e14cf9a33edd97fbb2ca31/KS—Same-sex-Adoption-Kansas
"We're talking about trying to get children into the best homes we can," she said. "Could that sometimes be a homosexual home? Of course, but I still say that the preferred (situation) is every child to have a mom and a dad, if possible, but it's not always possible."
Thomas Witt, Director of Equality Kansas, contended, “Well, she just proved our point. Kansas Department of Children & Family Services has a bias, and it shouldn’t be part of their job.”
The ongoing battle over discriminatory practices, though, is only the latest crisis facing Kansas DCF. As Governor Brownback stands behind the DCF leadership, and Republicans stall audits of the agency, many look at Kansas Department of Children & Family Services as an benchmark for the performance of a Republican test lab, and the results aren’t good.
The story of Mekhi Boone began the discussion on the lack of services being provided by DCF. Admitted to a Kansas City, Missouri hospital, doctors described him as the “worst case of abuse I’ve ever seen.” The case presented an inside look at the handling of abuse cases, and a call to action for the Department of Children and Family Services. Teachers, school nurses, and other community members had all reported incidents of abuse; in one instance, a DCF worker witnessed the young boy with two black eyes and was told he had simply “fallen” onto a futon.
“Children’s Mercy personnel including a medical doctor who had observed approximately 15,000 victims of child abuse, described (Mekhi’s) injuries as the worst ever seen for a child that age, and that there was not two inches of (Mekhi’s) body that did not have bruising on it,” the lawsuit reads.
Despite warnings that his biological father was an abusive alcoholic, TFI and Child & Family Services moved the child into his care.
Beaten, bruised, and struggling, Mekhi lay in a hospital bed without his family nearby.
Further, the lawsuit alleges Mekhi died without his family.
“Naomi Boone was not allowed to visit her son, (Mekhi), before his death while he was hospitalized at Children’s Mercy Hospital. (Mekhi’s) family were not allowed to see or visit (Mekhi) while he was being treated at Children’s Mercy,” the lawsuit reads.
“(Mekhi) died without his mother or family present.”
For Kansas Department of Children & Family Services, the death of Mekhi Boone would not be their last interaction with private foster company TFI, who helped handle screening and placement through 2013, when their services were terminated. TFI remains a force in Kansas foster care, if only for the fact that they are the target of repeated lawsuits for lack of screening and handling of their charges.
Even with TFI out of the picture, the Kansas Department of Children and Family Services continued to lower the level of services provided to the taxpayers of the state. In August, it was revealed that the State of Kansas, in an effort to cap wages and lower cost, had moved to hiring individuals with only high school diplomas and minimal training as child abuse investigators, saving the state at least $2.25 per hour in cost, but potentially risking the safety of children in Kansas.
http://cjonline.com/news/2015-08-12/unlicensed-investigators-play-role-child-abuse-inquiries?utm_source=cjonline.com&utm_medium=link&utm_content=homepage&utm_campaign=latest-news-widget
Kansas is using unlicensed workers to investigate suspected child abuse and neglect -- with the only formal education requirement that they have a high school diploma
When highlighted here and through other news sources, Director Phylis Gilmore fired back, accusing writing staff at news sources around the state of making the situation political.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article18427340.html
The Kansas Department for Children and Families, which helped draft the legislation, responded with posts on Facebook and Twitter criticizing “the left” and The Eagle. The text of the Facebook post on the agency’s page was also sent to The Eagle as a letter credited to secretary Phyllis Gilmore.
“While the left is actively mocking the State of Kansas for passing legislation that protects taxpayer dollars and encourages personal responsibility, these are the same individuals who have since 1996, stood in the way of progress, keeping low-income Kansans dependent on assistance,”
Meanwhile, reports of abuse and the lack of proper oversight by DCF continue to appear; most recently focused around a case in Kansas City, Kansas, where a young boy was chopped into pieces and fed to a waiting trough of pigs. The case that drew most attention in Kansas, though, related to the Schumms, a prominent Topeka family and at one point considered the focus of legislation designed to promote more Christian-focused homes for foster children. The Schumms were arrested for abuse regarding the torture of a child in October, 2015. As a couple who homeschooled their children, outside of DCF few would have enough access to report incidents of abuse, according to child abuse advocates.
Now, the Kansas Department of Family & Child Services has refused to honor an open records act, saying they require the Topeka Capital Journal to pay for all cost related to that report, a $3,000 fee.
Mired in scandal over discriminatory practices and facing a past history that includes the murder of children without proper supervision by DCF, the agency seems unwilling to open their books to the taxpaying public. While misuse of their influence in courtrooms to sway cases over LGBT parents took up agency time, resources were diminished for the key functions required of a government agency: the protection and services to children under their charge.
Governor Brownback contends he will stand behind Phylis Gilmore and Republicans continue to contend this is something we can take up “later, in a larger scope” next year. Whether it is discriminatory practices, the lack of resources, or having the head of an agency interfere with the placement process as District Judge Sloan argued, the Kansas Department of Children & Family Services fails at their most basic purpose: to serve the best interest of families statewide.
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