DCF: Graduation, promotion and enrollment measures improved for Kansas students in foster care, but gaps remain
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Summary
Department for Children and Families presented the 2024–25 foster care report card showing a rise in graduation to 72% (from 64.6% in 2022–23), narrowing gaps with all students and increased access to preschool and mental-health supports, while discipline disparities persist.
Rebecca Gerhardt, director of permanency and licensing at the Department for Children and Families, told the Committee on K-12 Education Budget that Kansas students in foster care showed improved outcomes in 2024–25, including a graduation rate of 72 percent compared with 64.6 percent in 2022–23.
Gerhardt said the gap between students experiencing foster care and the all-student population narrowed from about 23.6 percentage points in 2022–23 to about 19 percentage points in 2024–25. Attendance for foster care students held near 89 percent over three years, and the reported dropout rate for students in foster care fell from about 5 percent to 3.7 percent. "We're getting better," Gerhardt said, "Are we there? No. The finish line hasn't been reached yet, but we are getting better every year." She stood for committee questions after the presentation.
Gerhardt highlighted supports that she said contribute to the improvements: more than 90 percent of preschool-aged students in foster care are enrolled in at-risk preschool programs, and mental-health intervention teams operating in roughly 81 districts served about 8.5 percent of the foster care population compared with about 0.8 percent of all students. She noted promotion-to-next-grade rates rose across nearly all grade levels, with the largest remaining challenges concentrated in tenth and eleventh grades, where credit accumulation affects promotion and graduation cohort tracking.
The director also called out a persistent disparity in disciplinary outcomes: students experiencing foster care are more likely to face in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, or expulsion and for longer durations. She and KSDE staff told members that higher acuity among children entering foster care helps explain part of that difference and that joint work groups are addressing alternatives and supports.
Committee members asked for clarifications on placement transfers, best-interest determination meetings and how transportation is arranged when a child stays in a school of origin. Gerhardt described a process in which case management placement teams, district foster-care points of contact and DCF staff coordinate decisions and transportation cost-sharing when feasible. She said DCF will continue to refine documentation about outcomes of best-interest determinations and follow up with specific data when requested.
The committee will keep Gerhardt's report on file and follow up on data requests and implementation questions raised during the hearing.
