Kansas plans single agency to aid kids, families

Abstract

The same kids who end up in trouble with the law often come from families in disarray, the Hays Post reported Jan. 21. Those families, in turn, regularly turn to the state for food assistance, foster care or mental health care. So, earlier this month, Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced plans to merge many of the state's social service offices — effectively reversing a breakup of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services that came in 2012 when Republican Sam Brownback was governor. The new agency would be called the Department of Human Services (DHS). Experts say they're optimistic, but the changes will create difficulties, including the merging of social work and criminal justice cultures. The DHS, under the Kelly plan, would knit together these operations: the Department for Children and Families; the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services; and juvenile justice services for children, run by the Kansas Department of Corrections. One possible benefit of a merger is changing or improving an agency's reputation, Suzanne Leland, a professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said. “Perhaps this one agency has a better reputation than the other and it is more accountable,” she said. “Then the act of doing it will restore some credibility.”