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Kansas foster care compliance report raises concern with ‘sleep-only’ placement of children

TOPEKA — The court-appointed monitor for Kansas’ settlement of a foster care lawsuit challenged the state’s reliance on “sleep-only” housing because the practice didn’t contribute to satisfactory outcomes for children and distorted statistics on the number of youths in stable residential settings.Monitor Judith Meltzer, senior fellow with the nonprofit Center for the Study of Social Policy, said Kansas was supposed to have remedied years ago problems with temporarily holding foster children in offices, motels and other unsuitable locations.

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Kansas faith leaders ‘well positioned’ to help fill mental health care gaps in rural areas

PLAINVILLE — Churches and clergy members play an important role in linking residents with mental health care in rural and frontier Kansas counties, experts say.Mental health professionals, local faith leaders and community members met at a rural mental health summit Tuesday in Plainville hosted by NAMI Kansas, a mental health advocacy agency.Caregiver and NAMI Kansas volunteer Tara Gwynn said during a presentation that local churches are often the first places people in rural and frontier areas go to seek therapy or guidance.Part of the reason why religious officials are often the first person to respond to a mental health crisis is because of a lack of mental health care providers across Kansas.

Read MoreKansas faith leaders ‘well positioned’ to help fill mental health care gaps in rural areas