TOPEKA — A renewed effort by Gov. Laura Kelly to form a single Kansas agency overseeing social welfare programs by combining two state agencies was rejected Tuesday on the House floor.
The governor’s reorganization would have merged services provided by the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Aging and Disabilities into the Kansas Department of Human Services. These services include oversight of the state’s long-suffering foster care system and four state hospitals. Laura Howard already serves as secretary of both DCF and KDADS.
Howard has said combining the two agencies would allow them to modernize systems and make it easier for people to access the help they needed.
