Updates

This report provides an update on action taken during the 2021 Kansas Legislative Session and an overview of the continuing harms brought to communities by this unjust and ineffective practice.

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“The newly enacted laws show how intent the Kansas Legislature was to suppress Kansas voters and obstruct our constitutional rights,” said Jami Reever, Kansas Appleseed executive director. “All Kansans deserve to be trusted with our vote and to have our voices heard through accessible, strong, and legitimate elections.”

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“Schools, food service workers, bus drivers, custodial staff, volunteers, Kansas State Department of Education and so many others have stepped up amid the pandemic to see that our kids have what they need to thrive,” Jami Reever, Kansas Appleseed executive director said. “The USDA’s proactiveness in extending child nutrition waivers through the next school year will allow that work to continue.”

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Wichita's use and maintenance of the Wichita Gang List is discriminatory and wrong. Kansas Appleseed and ACLU of Kansas are taking action.

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There are well over 32,000 reasons why House Bill 2183 should be stopped in its tracks.

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This report discusses how COVID-19 impacted Kansans’ access to what we need to survive, ways communities and programs stepped up to fill the gaps, and opportunities to help Kansans not only recover from the pandemic but thrive.

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Executive orders pave way for rescinding the harmful public charge rule

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This brief provides statistics and information on impact of suspended licenses in Kansas and how state lawmakers can fix the problem.

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This brief lays out the case for why Kansas needs an office of the child advocate, what the office can do for Kansas kids, and how the office would generate cost savings by reducing the number of kids in care.

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This report summary outlines the need for Kansas to strengthen its social safety net by removing barriers to TANF, SNAP and Child Care Assistance in order to address the foster care crisis in Kansas.

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This 2020 fact sheet underscores the importance of voting if one is able to and discusses how voting is associated with better community health outcomes.

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George Floyd was murdered and deserves justice. Every single person whose life was stolen from us through gratuitous racial violence and white supremacy deserves justice, including the lives taken in our own state.

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The pandemic should serve as a clarifying moment: Too many of our policies and systems have always been broken, and the impacts of this pandemic will have disparate impacts across different racial and socioeconomic groups.

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a food assistance program that reduces hunger, improves dietary intake, bolsters local economies, and lifts people out of poverty. Kansas created unfair and unjust barriers making the program difficult for Kansans who may be struggling to make ends meet. This report identifies these barriers and makes clear that this legislation must be overturned.

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Wichita committed to piloting universal free meals! This update shares about the positive impacts of the Community Eligibility Program.

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Incarcerating young people, especially youth who exhibit mental and behavioral health issues, is ineffective policy with detrimental consequences. Utilizing data, this policy brief discusses how to support youth who are impacted by both youth justice and child welfare systems.

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The Summer Food Service Program is critical to Kansas kids and families, the Summer Meals Act of 2019 would usher in positive opportunities for the program.

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This report evaluates the changes that have taken place with respect to the identified problems in the Strengthen Families Rebuild Hope 2018 report and follows up on what has (or has not) been done with regards to the recommendations.

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"While juvenile justice reforms are resulting in better outcomes for Kansas kids and families, the foster care system remains in crisis. As work to improve the child welfare system continues, we must focus on what’s best for our state’s kids. And that’s not pitting one system against another."

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What to consider when our juvenile justice system works, but our child welfare system does not.

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A word from Kansas Appleseed Executive Director Jami Reever

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This report discusses the problem of childhood hunger in Kansas, the availability of federally funded nutrition programs, barriers to participation in these programs, and next steps to advocate for Child Nutrition Programs.

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This report examines the racial disparity that begins as early as a youth's first contact with the school system and continues through each step of the juvenile justice system. It includes an in depth look at disproportionate disciplinary actions against Kansas students of color in preschool, inconsistencies seen across Kansas law enforcement agencies, and more. The report calls attention to, and provides recommendations to address the disparties that persist for youth of color in Kansas.

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Medicaid expansion could save the Kansas Department of Corrections ~$11 million. Cost savings would result from Medicaid covering the costs of inpatient hospital stays exceeding 24 hours for incarcerated individuals; expanded coverage for mental health and substance abuse services; and expanded coverage reaching newly-released individuals, addressing mental health and substance abuse concerns, as well as general health care needs, reducing recidivism.

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This in-depth report published in 2018 outlines three major problems with the foster care system in Kansas, and provides three key recommendations for change.

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