Kansas
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Pre-Service Training

All prospective foster and adoptive families are required to complete either the Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP) Foundations or the Deciding Together (DT) training, each totaling 30 hours.

Relative/kinship or non-related kin (NR-Kin) must complete a 30-hour Kinship Path training curriculum within the first year of the foster care license being issued.

Services Offered Through the State’s Post-Permanency Support Program

Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) contracts with three different agencies to provide a continuum of voluntary services. FosterAdopt Connect operates the Kansas Post Adoption Resource Center (K-PARC) statewide. DCCCA provides respite services, training, and support groups statewide. TFI Family Services (TFI) provides case management in the southeastern part of the state, including Wichita.

Services include:

When a family in the southeastern part of the state seeks case management services (described below), TFI staff complete assessments, including the Parenting Stress Index, a strengths and difficulties questionnaire, and the Child Report of Post-Traumatic Symptoms (CROPS).

TFI provides case management services under the Adoption Stabilization and Preservation (ASAP) program. This program is available in the southeastern area of the state. Case management services can typically last for a period of six months but may be extended for an additional six months if needed. All services are delivered in the home. The assessments completed at intake are repeated every 30 days to track the family’s progress.

Virtual support groups are offered both statewide and in local communities to adoptive and kinship caregiver families. K-PARC groups are facilitated by staff who often have foster/adoptive parenting experience. DCCCA and TFI also offer support groups and will coordinate with K-PARC to reach and support more families. Topics vary each month, and some include psychoeducational support.

DCCCA is the contracted provider for respite care throughout the state. DCCCA connects the adoptive parents or guardianship caregivers with a licensed foster home for respite and ensures payment to the family providing respite. Currently, there is no limit on the number of respite days families can use.

K-PARC has staff advocates who answer questions, provide information, and help families across the state find needed services in their community.

K-PARC identifies and trains a pool of experienced volunteer parents and matches them with other parents who need support across the state.

All three agencies offer training on a variety of topics, such as navigating biological family relationships, core issues in adoption, Trust-Based Relational Intervention®, and more. Training is coordinated through Children’s Alliance of Kansas website (CAK) and is open to all foster, adoptive, guardianship, and relative caregivers, as well as professionals.

Each quarter, K-PARC offers a free, two-day relationship education retreat for post-permanency families. These retreats are hosted in a different area of the state each quarter to serve families statewide. Families are provided a stipend for childcare, hotel accommodations, and meals during the retreat.

In fiscal year 2023, K-PARC served 55 adoptive and guardianship families, DCCCA provided respite to 55 families, and TFI provided services to 15 families.

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Geographic Area Covered

Because TFI offers services only in the southeastern part of the state, formal assessment and case management services are only available in that area. Other services are available statewide.

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

  • All families who adopted from the state’s foster care system

  • All families who adopted through intercountry adoption

  • All families who adopted through private adoption

  • All families who adopted from foster care in other states, territories, or tribes

  • All families who have guardianship of a child from foster care

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

While the state does not offer subsidized guardianship, families who have finalized guardianship of a child from foster care are eligible for post-permanency services.

Accessibility

FosterAdopt Connect, the K-PARC contractor, is recognized by the Human Rights Campaign’s All Children-All Families program as an agency actively contributing to serving and supporting LGBTQ2S+ families and children. K-PARC also has access to a team of professionals who are trained and have expert knowledge in the Youth Acceptance Project, which supports families who have been separated as a result of their child’s gender identity and/or sexuality.

Support groups and training can provide specialized support or information for interracial adoptive families.

Outreach and Engagement

Families are provided with brochures outlining services at their adoptive placement agreement and adoption subsidy meeting, as well as at finalization. Families also receive information with their annual adoption subsidy review letter.

The contracted private providers use social media to engage families.

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies offering different services

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

K-PARC offers information, referral, and advocacy; support groups; peer support; training; and events.

DCCCA offers respite services, support groups, and training.

TFI offers assessment and case management services.

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

Kansas DCF sends an annual letter to adoptive families with a review of their subsidy. Families may request or renegotiate at that time or request a review or renegotiation at any time by contacting the DCF regional worker.

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

  • $1 million – $1,999,999 million

Funding Sources for the Post-Permanency Program (FY 2023)

  1. Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report)
  2. State funds
  3. Title IV-E funds (including Prevention Services Grant Program/PSGP or IV-E training dollars)

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