TOPEKA- Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas has issued a new mandate requiring federal cash benefits, such as social security and disability, to go directly to foster children instead of being used for state agency operating costs. This policy change will create savings accounts for children in state care, which will follow them when they age out of the system. While Kansas is not the first state to make such a change, it is the first to do so through executive order. Governor Kelly emphasized that federal benefits were never meant to be a state revenue source and that redirecting these funds to the children is the right thing to do.
The executive order creates a gap in funding for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, which oversees the state’s foster care system, and will likely need to be filled through general fund dollars. Nearly 1,000 children in foster care are entitled to federal cash benefits and agency staff will now be responsible for applying for these benefits on behalf of qualifying children. This new mandate is part of a larger effort to improve Kansas’ troubled foster care system and ensure that policies actually benefit those they are intended for.
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Photo credit kansasreflector.com
