SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE
BILL NO. 2189
As Recommended by House Committee on
Child Welfare and Foster Care
Brief*
Sub. for HB 2189 would amend the Revised Kansas
Code for the Care of Children (CINC Code) to extend a
court’s jurisdiction in a CINC case under certain conditions
and would require reentry services be provided by the
Secretary for Children and Families (Secretary) for eligible
young adults upon request.
The bill would create exceptions to continuing law that
provide for termination of a court’s jurisdiction over a child in
a CINC case. A court would be prohibited from issuing an
order terminating jurisdiction, as authorized in continuing law,
over a child in need of care who makes a written request to
the court for continuing jurisdiction. The written request could
be made by a non-minor dependent in out-of-home
placement who is attending but has not completed high
school or a non-minor dependent in the custody of the
Secretary who is in out-of home placement and transitioning
to adulthood. A non-minor dependent who makes such written
request would be required to participate in specified activities
that lead to independence. The bill would establish conditions
for termination of the court’s jurisdiction over such non-minor
dependent.
The bill would also require the Secretary to provide
reentry services to certain young adults who request such
services without the need for court involvement. The bill
would also establish participation requirements for receipt of
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org reentry services and specify the conditions for termination of
such services. The bill would also make technical
amendments.
Several of the bill’s provisions—allowing a non-minor
dependent to request continuing jurisdiction by the court and
completion of specified activities to maintain such jurisdiction,
and allowing a non-minor to request that the Secretary
provide reentry services— would expire on June 30, 2029, as
explained below.
Reentry Services
The bill would require the Secretary to provide reentry
services to an eligible young adult who makes a written
request to the Secretary for such services. A young adult
would be eligible for reentry services if such young adult:
●Has reached 18 years of age but not yet 21 years
of age;
●Was previously in the custody of the Secretary and
in an out-of-home placement on or after such
young adult has reached 16 years of age; and
●Such out-of-home placement was not with such
young adult’s parents or at a juvenile detention
facility or a juvenile correctional facility.
The bill would require the young adult receiving reentry
services to participate in self-sufficiency planning, attend
school or work, and make efforts towards independence as
determined by the Secretary.
Under the bill, reentry services would terminate when
the first of the following conditions occurs:
2- 2189 ●The Secretary determines the young adult is not
complying with the participation requirements for
reentry services;
●The young adult voluntarily requests termination of
services; or
●The young adult reaches 21 years of age.
This section on reentry services would expire on June
30, 2029.
Definitions
The bill would add “non-minor dependent” to the
definitions in the CINC Code to mean an individual who is at
least 18 years of age but less than 21 years of age and,
except for the age requirement, meets the definition of a
“child in need of care” under the Code.
Extension of Court Jurisdiction in Child in Need of Care
Case
The bill would create exceptions to the termination of the
court’s jurisdiction in a CINC case.
Court Jurisdiction Under Continuing Law
When a court acquires jurisdiction over a child in need of
care under continuing law, the court’s jurisdiction may
continue until the child:
●Becomes 18 years of age, or until June 1 of the
school year during which the child became 18
years of age if the child is still attending high
school. However, if there is no court-approved
transition plan, jurisdiction may continue until a
3- 2189 transition plan is approved by the court or until the
child:
○Reaches the age of 21;
○Has been adopted; or
○Has been discharged by the court.
Continuing law allows any child 18 years of age or older
to make a written request to the court that the jurisdiction of
the court cease. The court is required to notify all parties and
interested parties of the child’s request, and jurisdiction will
cease 30 days after receipt of the request.
Exceptions to Termination of Court’s Jurisdiction
Upon a written request to the court by a child in need of
care, the bill would prohibit the court from issuing an order
terminating jurisdiction over such child:
●Before June 1 of the school year during which the
child becomes 18 years of age if the child is in an
out-of-home placement, is still attending high
school, and has not completed a high school
education; or
●Who is a non-minor dependent in the custody of
the Secretary while in out-of-home placement and
is transitioning to adulthood.
This provision would expire on June 30, 2029.
Required participation. The bill would require a non-
minor dependent who requests the court’s continuing
jurisdiction to participate in case planning, attend school or
work and make efforts toward independence as determined
by the Secretary, and receive Independent Living (IL)
services from the IL program administered by the Secretary. If
the non-minor dependent fails to comply with these
participation requirements, the bill would allow the Secretary
4- 2189 to petition the court to terminate jurisdiction. This provision
would expire on June 30, 2029.
Ending the court’s jurisdiction. Under the bill, after a
non-minor dependent either has been absent from placement
for 30 calendar days or attains 21 years of age, the court’s
jurisdiction over the non-minor dependent would cease.
When it is no longer appropriate for a court to exercise
jurisdiction over a child pursuant to the conditions previously
noted allowing for or requiring continued jurisdiction, the bill
would require the court to enter an order discharging the child
upon a motion of the court or a party or an interested party at
a hearing, or upon agreement of all parties or interested
parties.
Background
The bill was introduced by Representative Thomas.
House Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care
In the House Committee hearing on February 13, 2023,
written-only proponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the Department for Children and Families
(DCF).
No other testimony was provided.
In the House Committee hearing on February 19, 2024,
proponent testimony was provided by Representative
Thomas and a representative of the Children’s Alliance of
Kansas, who generally testified the bill would provide at-risk
young adults with supports to aid their transition to adulthood,
giving them time to mature and develop important life skills. In
response to questions from Committee members, both
proponents expressed support for the amendment proposed
by DCF that would require reentry services for eligible young
adults previously in foster care who make a written request to
the Secretary for such services.
5- 2189 Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of
DCF, who stated the bill would allow young persons
transitioning to adulthood, upon request to the court, to
remain in DCF custody while receiving IL services and
intensive supports and services to increase their chances of
lifelong success. The representative proposed an amendment
that would allow eligible young adults to request, in writing,
reentry services from DCF and require DCF to provide such
services without the need for court involvement, even if the
young adults had previously chosen to leave the custody of
the Secretary.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to allow the
Secretary to provide reentry services to eligible young adults
and to add a sunset on provisions concerning the ability of a
non-minor dependent to continue and maintain a court’s
jurisdiction in the CINC case.
Fiscal Information
[Note: When the House Committee took action on the
bill, a request was made for a further revised fiscal note that
would reflect the reduced cost estimate noted by DCF. A
subsequent revised fiscal note was not available when the
supplemental note was prepared.]
According to the revised fiscal note prepared by the
Division of the Budget during the 2023 Legislative Session on
the bill, as introduced, DCF states, assuming 10 percent of
eligible non-minor dependents would apply to re-enter
custody of DCF, a re-entry program would require 1.0 FTE
position in DCF administration to oversee the program, 1.0
FTE supervisor position for each of the six DCF regions, and
9.0 FTE positions distributed statewide according to caseload
to handle anticipated re-entry cases, for a total of 16.0 FTE.
The supervisors would also supervise any existing regional IL
staff and support staff who would be dedicated to the re-entry
6- 2189 program. Additionally, DCF indicates the following would be
required: non-minor dependent placement costs (room and
board, food, utilities, and any other miscellaneous placement
costs), a one-time update to the Case Management
Placement System to record and track placement for re-entry
cases, and the purchase of 40 additional licenses for the 16.0
FTE positions requested and existing positions that would be
working with the re-entry program. In the fiscal note issued in
2023, DCF estimated the cost for FY 2024 at approximately
$7.5 million and approximately $7.4 million for FY 2025.
Further, DCF indicates if the bill is intended to implement
the federally recognized extended foster program,
expenditures would increase in the IL program, as the IL ages
served would extend from age 14 up to 21, to age 23, which
would increase caseloads; however, the fiscal effect on
expenditures of this change has not been determined.
Federal Title IV-E Foster Care funds would not be available
until the program was part of the Kansas IV-E State Plan. If
the State Plan was amended to include an “extended foster
care“ program, federal funds of less than 10.0 percent may
be available if approved.
The Office of Judicial Administration indicates the bill
could have a fiscal effect on expenditures of the Judicial
Branch. The bill would allow extensions of current CINC
cases or possibly create new CINC cases. Nevertheless, until
the courts have had an opportunity to operate under the
provisions of the bill, an accurate estimate of the fiscal effect
on expenditures by the Judicial Branch cannot be given.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill
was not reflected in The FY 2024 Governor’s Budget Report.
An updated fiscal note reflecting FY 2025 and FY 2026
estimated costs was not available when the House
Committee heard the bill.
Revised Kansas Code for the Care of Children; non-minor dependent; child in need
of care; court jurisdiction; child custody; Secretary for Children and Families
7- 2189