Wichita area officers now have access to system that could save children’s lives

Zaiden Javonovich, 2.

Evan Brewer, 3.

Lucas Hernandez, 5.

Other Wichita children have also died in situations that could have ended differently had there been better communication between the Kansas Department of Children and Families and law enforcement. That communication has improved now that police have access to the DCF’s database and additional staff to work with children.

On Wednesday, the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office announced a partnership with the DCF. The DCF, using federal funds, placed two people within the WPD and one at the sheriff’s office. Law enforcement supervisors also now have access to the DCF’s child abuse and neglect information system, which will let officers know interactions families have with the DCF.

“I think one of the things we know that really led to this partnership is obviously, sometimes, officers or deputies may be the first ones to have contact with the family,” DCF secretary Laura Howard said during a news conference. “So the question for DCF was how to get important information and resources into the hands of law enforcement agencies who are interacting with families who might be in crisis.”

“We really believe that over time this new initiative may lead to ... prevention of child abuse and neglect.”

Kansas had 20 child homicides in 2017, including eight from child abuse, according to the 2019 annual report by the Kansas State Child Death Review Board.

“We can’t speak to why it wasn’t pursued by the previous administration, but it was part of our discussions with Law Enforcement very early in the process,” DCF Communications Director Mike Deines said in an email. “There was a rigorous legal and technical process we went through to ensure we were adhering to confidentiality requirements under the Child in Need of Care Code. Once it was determined we could move forward, we worked through the technology issues to get it done.”

Wichita and Sedgwick County are the only places the DCF has funded positions.

Sheriff Jeff Easter said, about a year ago, talks between him, chief Gordon Ramsay and the DCF started over a shared frustration.

“And that issue had to do with communication,” Easter said. “There had been some recent events here in the Wichita/Sedgwick County area where children had died. And we needed to communicate better. And during that conversation, DCF was gracious enough to start looking even beyond communication and how we could have community specialists working for our respective departments, which was a fantastic idea.”

The partnership has already started to pay off, Ramsay said.

“Really this, so far, in the first few months this program has really had some positive effects on improving communication, improving our partnerships with critical agencies in the state,” Ramsay said.

The new positions will work with families to connect them with community services, such as parent skill-building, substance abuse and mental health services. Officials said the partnership can also lessen the burden on police.

“We have traditionally operated in our silos,” Ramsay said. “The police deals with this and DCF deals with this and often times they overlap and this is a way to ensure that we are communicating effectively and providing the best care and service for our kids and those people that are suffering from mental illness.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 8:33 PM.