Committee hears bill to move foster-care permanency hearings from 12 to 9 months

At a hearing of the Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care, lawmakers and witnesses discussed House Bill 2075, which would amend K.S.A. 38-2264 to require a permanency hearing for a child in out-of-home foster care within nine months of the court-authorized removal and thereafter not less frequently than every nine months instead of the current 12-month schedule.

The bill’s sponsor materials and agency witnesses framed the measure as a step to shorten the time children spend separated from family and to improve Kansas’ performance on federal permanency measures. Jess Pringle, the committee reviser, said, “The bill before you amends both of those requirements of 12 months to 9 months.”

Tanya Keyes, Deputy Secretary at the Department for Children and Families, told the committee that the change is intended to “reduce the time that a child is separated from their family and kin while they're in the custody of the secretary in foster care” and to move Kansas closer to national performance on timeliness. Keyes gave the committee a snapshot of recent performance: for children in care and leaving within 12 months the national rate is 35.2% and Kansas’ rate is 32.8%; for children in care 12–23 months the national target is 43.8%…