Lori Burns-Bucklew is a Kansas City attorney in private practice pursuing improvements to child welfare in Kansas. 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.
Children Impacted by a Failing System
9,232
Kansas children were impacted by foster care in 2023.
9
Children died while in the care of the Kansas Department of Children and Families in 2023.
822
Youth experienced 2,057 night-to-night placements in 2023.
57
Children spent a total of 83 nights in foster care contractor’s offices in 2023.
48%
Of children didn’t receive appropriate mental health services in 2023.
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
Kansas Fails on Foster Care Commitments, Leaving Vulnerable Children at Risk
In its current form, the Kansas foster care system isn’t suitable for children, families, or Kansas.
The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) released its third annual report reviewing the State of Kansas and its contractors’ 2023 compliance with their commitments to providing services for youth in the foster system. The report revealed a troubling reality: children in the foster system were consistently let down and left to navigate a broken system on their own.
Read the Period 3 Report and our statements below.
