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Joint oversight committee reports four meetings in 2025, recommends studies and HB 2175 for 2026

Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care ยท January 22, 2026

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Summary

Staff reported that the joint committee on child welfare system oversight met four times in 2025, heard testimony from 41 unique individuals and recommended several items for study and legislative action in 2026, including care-program revisions, expanded use of legal guardianship, liability insurance solutions, and passage of HB 2175 (or equivalent) on investigation notifications.

Natalie, staff for the joint committee on child welfare system oversight, briefed the committee on the oversight group's 2025 activities and recommended follow-up for the 2026 legislative session.

She said the committee convened four meetings (March 31, June 2, Aug. 4 and Oct. 27) and heard testimony from 41 unique individuals and organizations, including family-preservation and case-management providers (Cornerstones of Care, DECA, Ember Hope Connections, KVC Kansas, Saint Francis Ministries and others), DCF, and the Office of the Child Advocate. Agenda topics included police protective custody, Title IV-E funding, standardized reporting for family-preservation providers, the Family First Prevention Services Act, permanency planning, liability insurance for case-management providers, mental-health services for foster youth, and the social-welfare workforce.

Natalie summarized the oversight committee's recommendations: study care-program revisions that could include independent physician examinations as part of an appeal process, release of medical records to parents' attorneys within 30 days after a child is taken into custody, and distribution of a parent's bill of rights during care examinations; increase use of legal guardianship as a permanency option; examine liability-insurance solutions for case-management providers; and recommend that the 2026 Legislature pass 2025 HB 2175 (or equivalent) concerning notification requirements to parents during investigations or removals. The committee also requested specific reports in 2026 on the number of youth in care diagnosed with autism and substance-use disorders, availability of specialized services, program outcomes, and options to increase substance-abuse treatment capacity.

Natalie said full documentation of the oversight group's meetings and recommendations is available on the committee S drive and invited members to follow up with questions.