Our Campaign for a Just Kansas
All Kansans should benefit from fair and effective systems of justice.
Overview
When our state invests in restoration and support, instead of incarceration and instability, it invests in strong Kansas communities.
Too many children are in foster care and they're entering at racially dispropotionate rates. The number of Kansans who are incarcerated continues to climb, and our state has one of the nation's highest rates of driver's license suspensions caused by court fees and fines. The state's youth justice system, which is transitioning to community alternatives to incarceration, disproportionately punishes Black and Brown youth.
It is possible to confront deep-set flaws in our state's justice and child welfare systems. Kansas Appleseed works to activate Kansans, advance effective policy solutions, and secure real change for Kansans and their families to build a more just Kansas.
Child Welfare
Ensuring accountability for Kansas kids and families
Youth Justice
No child belongs in prison.
Adult Justice
Reform, restoration, investment, divestment.
Child
Welfare
Kansas Appleseed works to hold the state accountable for fixing the foster care crisis. We leverage legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy, and impact litigation to restore Kansans' access to safety net programs, ensure full funding for child welfare prevention, and end the traumatizing conditions for kids in the state's foster care system.
The Kansas foster care system, in its current form, creates strains on stakeholders throughout. It is not good for children. It is not good for families. It is not good for the social workers, attorneys, judges, administrators, health care workers, or foster parents trying to keep children safe. It is not good for Kansas.
Kansas Appleseed is a part of the Strengthen Families Rebuild Hope (SFRH) coalition, an independent coalition formed in 2018 advocating for a better foster care system for Kansas kids. The coalition has convened town halls, produced reports on the status of Kansas's foster care system, and advocated for statewide reforms. SFRH is comprised of youth who have experienced foster care, foster parents, social workers, and more.
To learn more or become involved, contact Kansas Appleseed at info@kansasappleseed.org.
Contact Us
Youth
Justice
As a part of the Kansas United for Youth Justice coalition, Kansas Appleseed and partners successfully championed the Kansas Juvenile Justice Reform Act, commonly referred to as Senate Bill 367. This comprehensive, bipartisan legislation focuses on reducing the number of youth in out-of-home placements, embracing best practices for supervising youth in the justice system, and investing in evidence- based, community-centered alternatives to youth incarceration.
There's an overwhelming body of research that demonstrates using detention and correctional facilities as a primary response for youths' behavior produces poor outcomes at high costs. Research and practical experience established an evidence-based foundation policymakers and system agency leaders can use to allocate resources more efficiently and reduce recidivism.
Kansas Appleseed continues to work with community members and partners across the state to invest in young people and end youth incarceration.
Kansas Appleseed is honored to serve on the steering committee for Progeny. Progeny is a youth/adult partnership focused on reimagining youth justice and reinvestment into community-based alternatives.
Learn more about Progeny at progenyks.com.
progenyks.com
Adult
Justice
To become the state our communities deserve, Kansas must invest in increased restorative practices, alternatives to incarceration, and community-based programs.
Challenging Wichita's Gang Database
In 2021, the ACLU of Kansas and Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Wichita, on behalf of Kansans who have been unlawfully targeted and harmed by the Wichita Police Department's use of an unconstitutional Gang List.
Members of the Wichita community do not have to commit or even be charged with a criminal offense to be placed on the Gang List. By statute and WPD policy, the color of clothing you wear, where you hang out or who you are photographed with could all result in WPD placing you on the Gang List. WPD's use of the Gang List is unconstitutional and violates community members' First, Fouth and Fourteenth Ammendment rights.
Eliminating the License-for-Payment Scheme
The system-wide practice of suspending driver's licenses for unpaid debt dramatically impacts the economic wellbeing of the individual, household, and community. Research also shows Black Kansans and those experiencing poverty are more likely to have their driver's license suspended, and, on average, their suspensions last longer. Kansas is one of many states that perpetuates the cycle of poverty with a license-for-payment system.
In 2021, Kansas made progress on limiting the harmful impact of driver's license suspensions by increasing access to its restricted driver's license program, allowing individuals to petition a court to waive fines and fees due to manifest hardship, and reducing unnecessary punitive suspension extensions. Kansas can harness this momentum and continue to stregthen our state and its workforce by fully eliminating the practice.
"For minor infractions, my license was suspended for six years for $3,000 in fines I could not pay. It was a nightmare and limited my job options. Ultimately, that suspension was a big part of moving out of Kansas. Now that I have my license, I can work and move freely-It's like a different life." - Michael D. on the harmful impacts of a driver's license suspension for unpaid fines and fees. Michael now lives and works in California.
Impact
Impact
Our Just Campaign has worked with partners throughout the state to move our state forward. Examples of our impact include:
Ending Extreme Placement Instability and Inadequate Mental Health Serivces.
Children in Kansas foster care face extreme housing instability—sometimes moved more than 50 or 100 times—and are deprived of critical mental health assessments and services. In November 2018, Kansas Appleseed, Children's Rights, the National Center for Youth Law, and attorney Lori Burns-Bucklew filed a class action lawsuit against the state of Kansas.
In January 2021, a federal judge approved a settlement agreement between parties that will fundamentally change children's lives by ending the placement practices that render them essentially homeless and ensuring access to vital mental health care services.
Establishing a Division of the Child Advocate.
The Establishment of the Division of the Child Advocate is the culmination of years of work and advocacy to improve the foster care system in Kansas and ensure the best possible outcomes for youth and families. Going forward, families from across the state will be able to call on the Division of the Child Advocate for independent, transparent, and accountable oversight of Kansas’s child welfare system.
Restoring over $21M to the Evidence Based Programs Account
Protecting the 2016 youth justice reforms ensures our communities receive the funds they need to support our youth. Money saved by reducing youth incarceration is put into the Evidence Based Programs Account to fund vital resources including mental health services, substance abuse treatment, quality legal defense, mentorship programs and beyond.
Though these programs are necessary to building the ecosystem of care our state's young people deserve, the fund is frequently robbed to fill budget holes. By passing a state budget in 2022 that restores $21.1 million to the reinvestment fund, Kansas is making a critical investment in our state’s young people and our future.