The state of Kansas will have a new foster care contract plan later this year after Governor Laura Kelly announced the Department for Children and Families will terminate grants approved under the prior administration last year.
Kelly says the prior process under then-Gov. Jeff Colyer and then-DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummell essentially served as a no-bid approach, creating a lack of transparency in the process and leading to a series of inconsistencies in how the grant recipients were chosen. In one case, DCF awarded a grant to a group that didn’t submit a bid for the region it was chosen to serve. That group also was not among the top two finalists for another region, according to the Wichita Eagle and Kansas City Star.
The state’s foster care grant awards with Saint Francis Ministries, TFI Family Services, Cornerstones of Care and KVC Kansas will be revised, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal, and the family preservation program grants involving Eckerd Connects and Cornerstones of Care will be rebid. The state will now set up contracts instead of grants for family preservation services.
