Kansas Department for Children and Families
Department overview | |
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Formed | 1973 |
Preceding Department |
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Jurisdiction | State of Kansas |
Headquarters | 555 S. Kansas Avenue Topeka, Kansas 66603 |
Employees | 2,500 [1] |
Annual budget | $684 million [2] |
Department executive |
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Website | www |
The Kansas Department for Children and Families (formerly the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services) is a state agency in Kansas, responsible for the delivery of social services to those in need of them.[4]
The agency was founded in 1973, and it is currently headed by Laura Howard.
History
Pre-establishment
The 1859 Wyandotte Constitution mandated that the state create and support institutions for “the benefit of the insane, blind, deaf and dumb, and such other benevolent institutions as the public good may require.”[5] As a result, the Kansas Insane Asylum was established in 1866 in Osawatomie.[6] Due to overcrowding, an additional asylum was approved; the Topeka State Hospital opened in 1879.
Establishment
The agency was first established in 1973 from then-Governor Docking's Executive Reorganization Order No. 1, which created the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.[7] Governor Docking then appointed Dr. Robert Harder as the first secretary of the agency. In that same year, legislation was passed to transfer all social welfare programs from the various counties to the new agency. The time it took to transfer the programs to the new umbrella agency was about nine months.[4]
Services
- Child support services
- Economic and employment services
- Foster care
- Prevention and protection services
- Rehabilitation services
References
- ^ DCF's Budget pg.2
- ^ Kansas Budget pg. 238–241
- ^ "'A true public servant': New Kansas child welfare leader vows openness, more resources". Kansas City Star. Kansas City Star
- ^ a b "Agency History - 1970's". Kansas Department of Children and Families. Agency History - 1970's
- ^ "Wyandotte Constitution". Kansas Memory. Kansas Constitution, Article VII, Section I
- ^ "Agency History - Pre-Executive Reorganization Order 1". Kansas Department of Children and Families. Pre-Executive Reorganization Order 1
- ^ Gov. Docking's 1973 ERO
External links
- Department of Children and Families website
- Department for Children and Families publications at State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library
- former Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services publications at State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library