Kansas foster care

28-year-old Natalie Zarate spent two decades working towards becoming a citizen after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a child. Except now she worries that the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration and end birthright citizenship could endanger her and her family.

Twice this year, emergency response crews were called to a foster care contractor's office in Topeka to save the lives of children in state custody. Poor supervision at such offices has been a problem for years.

A court-mandated report released Monday shows that Kansas' foster care system is not only showing no improvement in key areas, but getting even worse. Foster children are still sleeping in offices, despite a lawsuit settlement requiring that stop three years ago.

Cornerstones of Care has had 17 kids sleep in a new shelter. The agency says it's an improvement over an office stay, but it's at a campus that critics call "grim.”

Kansas was one of the first states in the country to access federal Family First prevention money. Programs it is funding have spent years growing.

Problems with foster care agencies was a common reasons parents stopped fostering.

Geary County Secure Care can be ‘the last hope for these youth.’ But others say the jail-like facility only makes things worse.

More than 50 foster kids are missing in Kansas at a given time. The state said it is making progress to fix the problem, but critics say it could do more.

The Division of the Child Advocate was created in 2021 to oversee the child welfare system. Its most recent annual report is the most detailed case breakdown in the young agency's existence.

Kansas lawmakers are holding a special meeting to review foster care issues.