KS Republicans plan path forward on Child Welfare oversight after Kelly creates office
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order creating a long-debated office to oversee the state’s foster care agency is getting a cool reception from Republican lawmakers, who have been unable to pass their own proposal but resent her decision to move forward without them and question the effectiveness of her plan.
GOP legislators on the Child Welfare Oversight Committee said they will continue to pursue their own proposals, which stalled earlier this year. These include making the job subject to Legislative confirmation and housing the office outside of the executive branch controlled by Kelly, who is up for reelection next year.
The committee was already scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday. Kelly announced Monday afternoon she’d formed the office by executive order.
Sen. Richard Hildebrand, a Galena Republican and committee chair, called the move a “slap in the face.”
While the committee made no formal recommendations Wednesday, Hildebrand said the matter would be on its agenda next month.
The push for reforms in the foster system was spurred by reports of abuse, including a 2017 Kansas City Star investigation hat revealed efforts by the Department of Child Welfare to conceal its problems from the public by using privacy laws and internal procedures.
But legislative efforts to create an independent advocate’s office have been unsuccessful. Republicans, who hold a supermajority, are split on how to proceed. Last session, the Senate passed it’s own version that placed the office in the hands of the Attorney General. But it lacked support among child welfare advocates and House lawmakers.
Democratic-led proposals have also languished, including one by Rep. Jarrod Ousley, a Merriam Democrat, who has long advocated for the office.
Democrats praised Kelly for moving on an issue that the Legislature has discussed for years without taking action: formation of an independent office that could investigate and recommend changes to the state’s foster care agency.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Kelly urged the Legislature to convert the executive order into state law so that it can outlast her administration.
“I have no doubt that my colleagues in the legislature are thinking very seriously about that and will be working together to see if there’s a way we can actually cement this into statute,” she said.
Under the order, the advocate would be appointed by Kelly and work in the Executive branch’s Office of Administration. The appointee, however, would function independently and not report to the office’s head, the Secretary of Administration.
The advocate would compile and investigate complaints involving the health, safety, welfare and civil or human rights of children in the state system. They would also monitor and analyze the system’s compliance with state and federal law. Reports from the advocate will be open to the public to the extent permitted by state confidentiality laws.
In an email, Tuesday, a spokesperson for Kelly the governor hoped to have an advocate hired by the beginning of the Legislative session in January and that the office would be funded through reallocations within the executive branch this year. The advocate will serve a five-year term.
In the future, the state Legislature will need to appropriate funds for the office.
But Republicans argued placing the advocate within the executive branch and giving Kelly sole power of appointment amounted to the “fox guarding the chicken coop” and would discourage whistle blowers from coming forward.
“This is no different than what anyone else could have done any other time with regard to calling in a complaint; it’s just moving it to a different government department,” said Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican.
Several of the other 21 child advocates nationwide, including Missouri’s, operate as Kansas’ would under Kelly’s order — independently within the executive branch. Others have been placed in agencies for children and families, the judicial branch, the legislative branch or with state attorneys general.
Republicans in the Legislature had been split on where to place the office but had agreed not to house it in the executive branch. Wednesday they appeared no closer to an agreement.
Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican who sponsored the Ousley House bill that was supported by advocates last session, said she remained resolved to pass it. That version would establish a permanent statutory office that included all three branches of government in the appointment process and moved the post under oversight of the Legislature.
“My concern with it being in the executive branch is the opportunity for misuse of the position,” Concannon said.
“There are still concerns of my leadership that have not been addressed yet and their concerns about whether (the executive order) is the right way to do it or not, I share that concern.”
However, Concannon said, she felt Kelly’s actions moved the House and Senate no closer to an resolution.
Conannon said she still believed the Senate version of the bill was too flawed and would not consider it. Advocates at the time raised concerns that the Senate bill granted the advocate too much power and that the Attorney General could use the office politically.
But Senate Republicans insisted Tuesday that they had the strongest bill and would push for their version moving forward.
“If we ever go to the conference committee the Senate position will be fought vigorously,” Hildebrand said.
Lawmakers also questioned whether Kelly’s action was the best legal path. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, considered the presumptive GOP nominee to take on Kelly next year, called the move “unusual.”
But Concannon said she was certain Kelly would succeed in appointing an advocate.
“I don’t know whether it was the right thing to do legally but I don’t know that anyone’s going to challenge it at this point until we get our bill though,” Concannon said.
“We are all looking at the specifics and the details in the bill and the idea. What we need to keep above everything is the safety of the child. What I believed were the checks and balances that were innately in the system are simply not working.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "KS Republicans plan path forward on Child Welfare oversight after Kelly creates office."
