Lori Burns-Bucklew is a Kansas City attorney in private practice. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and began practicing in 1984. An accredited Child Welfare Law Specialist, she has represented children and youth, as well as parents, grandparents, and other caregivers for children whose families are subjected to state intervention. She has served as class counsel in several civil rights class action matters on behalf of children in state care. She has trained hundreds of lawyers in the Kansas City metropolitan region regarding child welfare law and children’s issues.
Understanding Voter
Suppression in Kansas
89% of Kansans ages 18 or older are registered to vote. However, 71% of registered voters voted in the 2020 general election (62% of all Kansans 18 or older). Two years later, 52% of registered voters voted in the 2022 midterm election (46% of all Kansans 18 or older).
89%
89% of Kansans ages 18 or older are registered to vote.
71%
71% of registered voters voted in the 2020 general election (62% of all Kansans 18 or older).
52%
52% of registered voters voted in the 2022 midterm election (46% of all Kansans 18 or older)
Read About Our Work
Resources
SOUL Family Legal Permanency Program
In partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this program was designed by and for young people in foster care to reflect their vision of family and supportive adult networks.
Strengthen Families Rebuild Hope
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 other allies.
Litigation Partners
The fight to reform our state’s foster care system isn’t just important to Kansans; it is also important across the country. In our 2018 lawsuit (M.B. v. Howard), we partnered with these individuals and organizations to transform the broken foster care system and end years of victimization and trauma for Kansas children.
The National Center for Youth Law is a non-profit law firm that helps low-income children achieve their potential by transforming the public agencies that serve them. For more information, please visit www.youthlaw.org.
Every day, children are harmed in America’s broken child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and healthcare systems. Through relentless, strategic advocacy and legal action, we hold governments accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. Children’s Rights, a national non-profit organization, has made a lasting impact for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children. For more information, please visit www.childrensrights.org
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries to help clients with their legal needs around the world. DLA Piper has a long-standing and deep commitment to giving back to our communities through pro bono legal services, and it is one of the largest providers of pro bono legal services globally. www.dlapiper.com
Join the Fight Against Voter Suppression in Kansas
We must ensure our state enables all its eligible citizens to exercise their right to vote. Kansans, working together, can build a state full of thriving, inclusive, and just communities.
Contact us about advocacy opportunities. We’ll provide the information, strategies, and motivation to create a supportive system for democracy.
A Clear Vision of the Future for Kansas
Thriving
All Kansans should have the resources they need to support themselves and raise healthy families.
Inclusive
All Kansans should be able to participate fully in their communities.
Just
All Kansans benefit from a fair and effective system of justice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kansas Appleseed doesn’t offer direct services to register voters or provide direct engagement with voters. Our focus is instead on systemic change, knocking down legislative hurdles and blockades, thereby re-opening channels to provide these services to eligible Kansans. Our focus is on breaking the cycle at its source.
Quite literally, your vote opens the vote. Much will depend on who is voted in as local office holders – including city and county council members, school boards, and mayors. All of them play a critical role in realizing this vision of inclusivity.
We’re working to engage more Kansans and activate them to become advocates within their communities. We’re connecting with partners, hosting community meetings throughout Southeast Kansas, and organizing around issues such as food and housing insecurity, transportation, and incarceration. We’ll be happy to help groups understand who’s running for office, and what their priorities are.
It is our unequivocal position that immigration should not be rigged for the wealthy. Alongside the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition and partners across the state, Kansas Appleseed fought the Trump Administration’s “public charge” regulation, an intentional, anti-poor attack on immigrants of color and their families.
Kansans come from many places to live, work, learn, and thrive. And, they have rights to vote. Our multiple legislative pushes fight for the rights of immigrants to not only exist, but to share and exercise their responsibilities as citizens of our great state.