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# Kansas Foster Youth Spent 870 Nights Without Placement
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-kansas-2026-09-23-a/
- Published: 2026-09-23T10:30:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T10:30:45.000Z
- Description: A court-required review found 136 Kansas foster children spent 870 nights without a licensed placement in 2025, even as the state improved screenings, crisis services and placement stability.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Policy, Kansas

A court-required review of Kansas foster care found that 136 children spent a combined 870 nights without a proper licensed placement in 2025, while the state met four of 10 reform targets. The [fifth report](https://cssp.org/resource/neutrals-annual-mcintyre-v-howard-progress-report-2025/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, released Sept. 22, measures compliance with the McIntyre v. Howard settlement.

The numbers show both improvement and a persistent capacity problem. Ninety-two percent of reviewed placements were considered stable, above the settlement’s 90% target for a second year. Yet the overall move rate was 6.75 moves per 1,000 days in care, still 52% above the target of 4.44, and only 84% of children had no more than one move, short of the 90% goal.

The sharpest setback involved nights when the state could not provide a licensed bed. The neutral counted 348 failure-to-place episodes for those 136 children, producing 870 nights in offices or other unlicensed settings. Compared with 2024, that represented 36% more affected children, 61% more episodes and 175% more nights. The report also said the problem was worsening in 2026: through Aug. 31, Kansas had already recorded 1,163 such nights.

The burden was highly concentrated. [Kansas Reflector](https://kansasreflector.com/2026/09/22/report-kansas-fails-to-meet-housing-mental-health-needs-of-vulnerable-children-in-foster-care/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that 94% of the 2025 failure-to-place incidents occurred in Sedgwick County. Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard said the agency was working to expand access to child behavioral interventionists in Wichita and connect them with child-protection staff serving children leaving psychiatric residential treatment.

Mental-health performance followed a similar split. The review found that 96% of children received timely initial mental-health and trauma screenings, but only 63% received appropriate services, well below the 90% settlement goal. Among children whose identified needs went unmet, one-third missed services because of placement instability, tying the shortage of stable homes directly to continuity of care.

The federal court’s [2021 order](https://ecf.ksd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show%5Fpublic%5Fdoc?2018cv2617-170=&ref=theamericanquorum.com) approved reforms designed to end housing in inappropriate locations, prevent overcrowding, remove placement-based delays in mental-health treatment, provide statewide crisis intervention and eliminate night-to-night and short-term placements. The settlement also assigned an independent neutral to measure progress against numerical benchmarks rather than rely only on agency descriptions.

Howard said the state should seek release from oversight in areas where it has sustained progress, including placement stability, screenings, crisis intervention and licensing capacity. She also acknowledged the work was incomplete. Children’s advocates focused on the unresolved gaps, especially the rise in nights without placement and the mental-health shortfall. The [case summary](https://youthlaw.org/cases/mb-v-howard/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) from the National Center for Youth Law underscores why those measures are linked: the agreement treats stable housing and timely care as mutually dependent obligations.

For lawmakers and DCF, the report narrows the next phase of reform. Kansas can point to measurable gains in screening and crisis response, but compliance will depend on licensed-placement capacity—particularly around Wichita—and on converting assessments into services children can actually receive without another move.