Owen Cox, who led the Kansas Children’s Cabinet’s accountability presentation, reported on the recently completed Children’s Initiative Fund (CIF) accountability process and summarized fiscal year 2024 program outputs and early 2025 developments.

The report covers CIF‑funded programs across multiple state agencies and nonprofit partners; many of the numeric performance measures cited are drawn from fiscal year 2024 because that is the most recently completed fiscal year for which full data were available. Cox told the board the accountability review uses program reports, a CIF survey, and annual interviews with each grantee to compile program‑level service and outcome data.

Why it matters: CIF is funded from the state’s master tobacco settlement annuity (the Key Fund) and supports early childhood care, home visiting, literacy, infant‑death prevention, and other services statewide. The board will use the accountability findings when considering budget recommendations that agencies can include in FY27 state budget requests.

Key program findings and developments

- Childcare Assistance (DCF): Cox said the program targets families at or below 85% of state median income and provides subsidies to help families work, continue education or cope with emergency needs. The accountability review found that 71% of families receiving assistance who were employed saw earnings increase or remain steady at their next review, and families reported access to care they otherwise would not have had. Cox noted a recent policy change allowing differential rates for providers caring for children in the Kansas foster care system.

- Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG): Evaluators reported that 78% of ECBG classrooms were scored as high quality in FY24, a roughly 10 percentage‑point increase over the school year, and that children showed gains on early life skills and measures of positive parenting. The Cabinet expects a more detailed evaluation presentation at a future meeting.

- Family Preservation Services: Funded in FY24 but moved off CIF in FY25, the tiered voluntary program reported strong family stability outcomes and high percentages of children avoiding foster‑care placement; staff later discontinued the tiered structure after finding families frequently migrated between tiers.

- Imagination Library of Kansas: As of June 30, 2024, the program reported 23,427 newly enrolled children and just over 17,000 children who graduated the program that year; statewide participation was reported at roughly 43% of eligible children, compared with a national benchmark the program seeks of 65%. The program distributed more than 650,000 books in the state in FY24 and said targeted outreach increased enrollment among military families.

- Kansas Early Childhood Developmental Services: The early intervention program (birth to 3) reported more than 99% of children showing increased use of knowledge and skills and 95% of families saying the program aided learning and development; staff highlighted new partnerships with the Kansas School for the Deaf and Kansas School for the Blind.

- Kansas Preschool Pilot: District‑ and community‑partnered preschool programs reported 96% of children improved in literacy and 97% improved in mathematics across the year; program staff are preparing to use a new longitudinal data system in the Kansas Department of Education to track long‑term student outcomes.

- Infant death prevention (Kids Network): In FY24 the program held 285 safe‑sleep events across 40 counties and reported increased commitment among participants to safe‑sleep and tobacco‑cessation practices and an increase in hospital/clinic safe‑sleep certifications.

- Home visiting programs (MCH home visiting and Parents as Teachers): MCH home visiting completed 8,344 individual home visits in FY24, a 105% increase from FY22 and 42% increase from FY23; Parents as Teachers reported more than 54,000 in‑person contacts and about 2,300 developmental concerns identified, with a reported 92% retention rate for families served.

- Tobacco Use Prevention: The program operates the Kansas Quitline and reported training 550 individuals in accredited tobacco‑cessation counseling; staff recently added a youth coordinator to revive youth outreach.

System and infrastructure items

- CAPE workforce registry: A statewide early childhood workforce registry (also called CAPE) soft‑launched in January 2025 and, Cox said, already had users in all 105 Kansas counties; the registry contained roughly 6,500 professionals, including 3,932 educators or direct‑care staff, and includes course offerings and professional development tracking.

- Health and Safety Grants (KDHE): Launched to help providers meet regulatory compliance costs, the FY25 program approved 211 proposals with 82% of awards to home providers and 18% to center‑based providers; grantees reported not only financial help but improved knowledge of regulatory expectations.

- Northwest Kansas Public‑Private Partnership endowment: Cox outlined a new endowment intended to sustain child‑care facilities, support wages, and expand infant and toddler care across a 26‑county Dane G. Hansen Foundation area. The initial CIF appropriation was $5,000,000; the Dane G. Hansen Foundation committed matching resources and the Patterson Family Foundation provided an initial $1,000,000. Cox said current endowment principal stood at $7,100,000 with $355,000 of spendable income for the first grant cycle (grants expected to begin August 2025). Cox noted some figures in his slides were still being finalized.

Common challenges

Cox and multiple board members highlighted recurring challenges across programs: workforce shortages that limit program reach, economic uncertainty at both program and family levels, and ongoing need for mental and behavioral‑health resources for children, families and staff.

Questions raised at the meeting

Representative Christy Williams asked whether a provider must be licensed to receive subsidies; Derek Fleurlog of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment clarified that “there is no requirement to be licensed to receive subsidy funds” but that federal rules create licensing‑equivalent requirements in some subsidy contexts and that some exemptions require separate federal approval. The transcript shows differing concerns among board members about how subsidy rules affect family choice and home‑based care.

Ending

Board members thanked grantees and staff for participating in the accountability interviews and for supplying data. The accountability materials will inform the board’s budget recommendations and discussion about the pending transition to a new Office of Early Childhood.