Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is submitting an executive reorganization order to state lawmakers to combine the Department for Children and Families and the Department for Aging and Disability Services into one agency.
The new agency will be called the Kansas Department of Human Services.
The governor said creating the agency will ensure that Kansas families and individuals have easier access to critical services. She said it will improve engagement between service centers, clients and local stakeholders by creating a single point of entry for a variety of needs.
Programs in the new agency will include:
1. Adult protective services
2. Adult behavioral health
3. Long-term services and supports
4. Economic supports
5. Employment supports
6. Children’s mental health supports
7. Child protective services
8. Foster care
9. Prevention
10. Licensing, credentialing, survey and certification
11. Larned State Hospital
12. Parsons State Hospital
13. Osawatomie State Hospital
14. Kansas Neurological Institute
The current Secretary of DCF and KDADS, Laura Howard, will lead the new agency. Howard said the combined agency will provide an opportunity to modernize systems for youth, families and the elderly, and it will mean less bureaucracy standing between clients and the services they need.
Governor Kelly will submit the order to the Legislature on January 21st. It will become effective July 1st, unless the legislature takes action to disapprove it.
