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Kansas DCF to begin 24/7 law-enforcement response under HB 2075 July 1
Summary
The Department for Children and Families told the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight it will begin everyday (including weekends and holidays) contact and initial assessment work in response to law-enforcement reports about children, as required by House Bill 2075 passed this session.
Topeka, Kan. — The Department for Children and Families will begin making contact and initiating initial child-and-family assessments every day of the week, including weekends and holidays, for law-enforcement referrals starting July 1, Secretary Howard told the Joint Committee on Child Welfare System Oversight on June 2.
The action implements a provision in House Bill 2075 the Legislature passed this year. Secretary Howard said the department has been preparing operations, staffing and policies so the department can make the required contact with families within 24 hours of receiving a law-enforcement referral and will respond to the referring law-enforcement agency within 24 hours of making that contact.
The legislation requires DCF to move to a 24/7 “front-door” response when law enforcement believes a child is at immediate risk. Secretary Howard said the department has recruited staff who will work alternative schedules — rotating weekend and holiday shifts or nontraditional workweeks — and is coordinating locally with law enforcement to walk through how joint investigations will work in their jurisdictions.
Why it matters: The law narrows the circumstances in which a family will wait until standard weekday hours for DCF contact after a police protective custody or other emergency referral. DCF officials said the change is intended to reduce delays in safety planning, referrals for services and the initiation of the child-and-family well-being assessment, and to clarify decision-making between responding agencies.
What DCF told the committee: Secretary Howard said staff will contact families every day of the week and that the department will follow existing exceptions when law enforcement asks DCF to delay contact for investigative reasons. She also said the department has worked with the state treasurer and other partners to stand up other initiatives at the same time — including ABLE accounts for children receiving federal benefits — but the 24/7 change is a major cultural and operational shift.
Context: Several committee members and child-welfare providers had asked for the change during the session after hearing testimony that many emergency removals and post-removal hearings occur on weekends. Deputy Secretary Tanya Keyes, who briefed the committee on day-to-day Protection Report Center operations, told legislators earlier in the hearing that most reports are already processed online and many assigned investigations continue to be scheduled within the department’s weekday response bands; HB 2075 changes the required response to law-enforcement referrals.
What to watch next: DCF officials said they will report back to the committee about early operational results, including whether the department’s new schedules and joint investigative protocols shorten time-to-assessment and time-to-safety-planning in jurisdictions with heavy law-enforcement referrals.
Sources and attribution: Remarks to the committee by Secretary Howard and Deputy Secretary Tanya Keyes; written testimony and slides provided to committee members. The committee heard related policy background earlier from Christopher Church of Casey Family Programs about federal constitutional and circuit-court principles that govern emergency removals.
