Step Up for Kansas Kids
Uniting caring Kansans to strengthen the child welfare system through information, advocacy, and local action.
Together, we can build a stronger system of care for Kansas kids.
Step Up for Kansas Kids is a statewide information and action network created by Douglas County CASA to strengthen support for children and families in the Kansas child welfare system. By connecting caring Kansans, organizations, and advocates, Step Up builds awareness, fosters collaboration, and drives systems-level change so every child has the chance to thrive.
How Step Up Works
When you sign up for Step Up for Kansas Kids email alerts, you’ll:
Learn
Receive straightforward updates that explain what’s happening across the child welfare system in Kansas.
Act
Receive timely, approachable opportunities to speak up, attend events, and support partners statewide.
Connect
Find panels, volunteer opportunities, and resources linking families, advocates, and service providers.
Your First Two Steps to Support Kansas Kids:
1. Sign up for news & action alerts
Stay informed about what’s happening across Kansas’s child welfare system and get timely opportunities to help.
2. Spread the word
Download the attached toolkit and share this campaign with your community to help build a stronger network of care for Kansas kids.
Why It Takes All of Us
Across Kansas, the child welfare system is stretched thin. Many families are caught in cycles of crisis that begin with challenges like poverty, mental and behavioral health struggles, or lack of resources. Too often, these pressures lead to family separation instead of early intervention and support.
Change is possible when communities come together. When more Kansans understand how the system works — and what families truly need — we can shift from reacting to crises to preventing them. That’s the heart of Step Up for Kansas Kids: building awareness, connection, and collective action to ensure every child grows up in a safe, supported home.
Join Kansans working to make child welfare stronger.
The State of Child Welfare in Kansas
2025 By the Numbers
Each number represents a child, a family, and a chance for our community to make a difference. Here’s a snapshot of what Kansas’ child welfare system looks like today.
70,303
Statewide reports of child abuse or neglect.
(2,434 in Douglas County)
33,632
Statewide reports assigned for investigation.
(1,172 in Douglas County)
5,704
Statewide average number of children removed from their home of origin.
(130 in Douglas County)
Data from DCF, State Fiscal Year 2025
The data show what we see every day: Families are struggling, but together, Kansans can step up to change the story.
Featured Stories
Read more about how Kansans are stepping up to support children and families — from local advocacy to statewide collaboration — through the latest stories and updates.
When people think about children involved in the child welfare system, it can be easy to focus only on the immediate circumstances that brought them into care — the specific...Read More
As part of the Step Up for Kansas Kids campaign, we’re proud to share this guest post from our friends at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. As Douglas County’s...Read More
This Pride Month, we are excited to spotlight a budding organization dedicated to creating safe, affirming, and inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ youth in foster care. Operating in 95 counties across...Read More
This National Foster Care Month, nearly 6,000 children across Kansas are living in an out-of-home placement due to abuse, neglect, or other circumstances prompting state intervention. These placements range from...Read More
Child Welfare in the News — What We’re Tracking
Statewide Progress on Child Welfare Reform: Perspectives from Recent Coverage
The M.B. v. Howard settlement, approved in January 2021, is a class-action agreement designed to reform Kansas’s foster care system by improving placement stability and access to mental and behavioral health services. The state is required to meet and maintain measurable goals — such as ensuring 90% of children remain in stable placements and 90% of those with identified mental health needs receive appropriate care — before exiting court oversight.
A September 2025 independent report from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) found that Kansas has made measurable progress in meeting several of its obligations but continues to face serious challenges, particularly around placement instability, workforce shortages, and regional disparities in care. The following recent coverage offers a range of perspectives on the state’s progress and remaining gaps.
- Report Highlights Kansas’ Progress in Child Welfare Reform (Kansas Department for Children and Families)
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- Annual Report Finds Kansas Foster Youth Still Facing Placement Instability and Gaps in Mental Health Care (Children’s Rights / Kansas Appleseed)
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- ‘Wake-up call’: Kansas Foster Care System Makes Minimal Progress Toward Promises Made in Court (Kansas Reflector)
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- Some Kansas Foster Kids Suffer ‘Extreme’ Instability as State Still Fails to Fix Longstanding Issues (KCUR / Kansas News Service)
Our Step Up for Kansas Kids Partners
We’re grateful to the organizations and advocates across Kansas who work every day to strengthen families and improve outcomes for children in foster care. Partners collaborate on referrals, share data trends, co-host learning events, and surface policy gaps.
KVC Kansas
KVC Kansas is a nonprofit that supports the state’s child welfare and mental health systems through prevention and family-strengthening programs, foster care case management, support for foster and adoptive families, reunification services, and trauma-informed outpatient behavioral health care.
Its work centers on preventing abuse and neglect, strengthening families, and ensuring children grow up in safe, family-like settings.
DCCCA
DCCCA provides a range of services for the child welfare system, including foster care and adoption services, family preservation programs, and behavioral health support.
It aims to keep families together through services such as home-based therapy and support for families in crisis, while also supporting children who need foster or adoptive homes by recruiting, training, and providing support to foster families.
Douglas County Distric Attorney's Office
The District Attorney's (DA) office acts as the legal prosecutor for child abuse and neglect cases by filing charges, prosecuting criminal acts, and representing the state in court proceedings. They work with child welfare agencies to protect children, investigate criminal allegations of abuse, and ensure justice for victims.
Kansas 7th Judical District Court
The 7th Judicial District, which includes Douglas County, Kansas, plays a role in the child welfare system by providing the legal framework for child custody and dependency cases, overseeing child support enforcement, and managing related legal processes.
As the state's District Court, it handles juvenile matters and has a Court Trustee office that expedites child support enforcement and domestic mediation, working alongside agencies like the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF).
The Bert Nash Mental Health Center
The Bert Nash Center advances the health of the Douglas County community through compassionate, whole-person behavioral health care, providing mental health, substance use, and integrated wellness services for children, families, and adults.
Kansas Department for Children and Families
DCF investigates abuse and neglect and oversees the private providers who deliver child welfare services in Kansas. This includes prevention work, arranging safe temporary placements, supporting families, managing case plans, providing aftercare, and working toward reunification or adoption.
Its focus is keeping families together when possible, ensuring children’s safety, and securing stable, permanent homes when needed.
Foster Village - Northeast KS
Foster Village bridges the gap between foster families and the community, providing practical support, peer connection, and system-wide advocacy to ensure children and caregivers thrive beyond the system.
Want to partner with us to support children and families in Kansas?
About Douglas County CASA
Douglas County CASA is a nonprofit organization based in Lawrence, Kansas, that recruits, trains, and supports volunteers to advocate for children in the child welfare system from Douglas County, Kansas. CASA volunteers—Court Appointed Special Advocates—are appointed by judges to ensure each child’s best interests are represented in court and in the community. Together, we work to help every child find safety, stability, and a permanent home.
Ready to make a difference for Kansas kids?
Sign up today to stay informed, take action, and help build a community of care.