Kansas Call To Action

You do not have to live in Kansas to express your opinions.  Here is a backgrounder.

Please send an email requesting that the Kansas Post Legislative Audit Committee do an audit of the SRS Privatization Contractors for the manner in which foster care contractors are compensated which creates an incentive for them to keep children in the foster care system longer than is needed without providing the services required by the contract. SRS’s procedures for monitoring the services provided by the contractors is not adequate as many children and families can attest to.

Please send before November 18th

The Kansas Post Legislative Audit Committee will be meeting November 18, 2010 and your email should request the audit of the privatization contractors for violations of contract which would result in the termination of the contract.   

Copy email addresses into the To:       and delete from body of email

Legislative Post Audit: Grange, Vice-Chair; Mast, Peck; Burroughs, Mah

Senate members: Bruce, Chairperson; D. Schmidt, Umbarger; Hensley, Steineger

johng@carlisleinc.net ; john.grange@house.ks.gov ; pmast@ink.org ; peggy.mast@house.ks.gov ; virgil@virgilpeck.com ;virgil.peck@house.ks.gov ; tom.burroughs@house.ks.gov ; lmah@cox.net ; ann@annmah.org ; ann.mah@house.ks.gov ;lawfirm@pixius.net ; Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov ; Derek.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; senatorumbarger@yahoo.com ;Dwayne.Umbarger@senate.ks.gov ; hensley@kssdems.com ; Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov ; Chris.Steineger@senate.ks.gov ;

This will be the scope of their audit:  - Please remove before sending.

Write a statement as to why you feel that the privatization contractor’s contract with SRS is no longer valid.  You could draw from personal experiences and this: http://www.liftingtheveil.org/eyeonkansas.htm

 SCOPE STATEMENT

Foster Care: Reviewing Selected Issues Related to the

Compensation and Oversight of Foster Care Contractors

Foster care-related services have been provided by non-governmental not-for-profit entities since 1996, when the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) privatized child welfare services. Beginning July 1, 2009, SRS entered into new contracts to provide foster care services in Kansas with four contractors—KVC Behavioral Health, St. Francis, The Farm, and United Methodist Youthville. The contracts are for four years and have options for up to two two-year renewal periods. Under the terms of these contracts, the contractors receive a base payment each month to cover their fixed costs, and a monthly case-rate for each child in out-of-home placement.

Recently, legislators have expressed concerns that the monthly case-rate paid under these new contracts may create a financial incentive for contractors to keep children in the foster care system and not return them to their homes or recommend placement in the homes of relatives. Legislators also expressed concerns about whether SRS provides enough oversight over its contractors to ensure they sufficiently justify their actions and recommendations regarding the children for whom they are responsible.

A performance audit in this area would address the following questions:

1. Does the manner in which foster care contractors are compensated create an incentive for them to keep children in the foster care system longer than is needed? To answer this question, we would interview SRS officials and review the agreements with foster care contractors to understand the basis for compensating contractors. We would interview officials from the current foster care contractors, and review expenditure and other data as necessary to develop a cost profile showing the nature and timing of the costs they incur to handle foster cases, and then compare that profile to the compensation they receive to identify any situations where the contractor might benefit financially by keeping a child in the system. We would also analyze foster care tracking data maintained by SRS to see if there are any trends in how long children remain in the system that appear to be related to the compensation contractors receive. We would conduct additional testwork as necessary.

2. Are the current safeguards for monitoring the services of foster care contractors adequate? To answer this question, we would interview SRS officials and review documents as necessary to understand the procedures SRS has established to monitor the services provided by foster care contractors, compare those procedures to best practices to determine if they are adequate, and determine if those procedures are being followed. We would also look at a small sample of cases in which children remained in the system for an unusually long time, and interview SRS officials, contractors, and families or guardians to determine what SRS does in those cases to help expedite the children’s placement. We would conduct additional testwork as necessary.

Estimated resources: 3 staff for 14-16 weeks (plus review)