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Kidjacked | Jacked Up
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There are currently over half a million children in the foster care system in the United States today. Kansas CPS News Archive
The Kansas news section is your source for the latest in family rights news items,
CPS reform efforts, open court demands, abolition of confidentiality laws that judges
hide behind, foster care deaths and issues, legal cases and more... Please
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with news and information from the state of Kansas and I will include it here in our
coverage.
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Kansas News Coverage
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Meet the Real Life Wonder Woman Who's Saving Lives By Single Handedly Winning the War on Pot
by Claire Bernish
Attorney Sarah Swain often compares herself to Wonder Woman in posts on Facebook, but the comparison isn't simply hollow braggadocio - what she has contributed toward the legalization of cannabis is nothing short of amazing.
Swain made headlines when she successfully defended Kyler Carriker against an absurdly trumped-up murder charge stemming from an arranged cannabis transaction gone horribly wrong, which you can read more about here, with the backstory here. She also successfully prevented U.S. Marine Corps veteran Kristoffer Lewandowski - whom she represented pro bono - from spending the rest of his life behind bars for possession of marijuana which he was using to treat his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Swain currently represents Kansas mother Shona Banda, who potentially faces decades in prison for using medical pot to treat her debilitating Crohn's Disease - and whose son has been stolen from her by authorities who somehow justify their actions as having his interests in mind.
thefreethoughtproject.com
January 24, 2016
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Legislative panel recommends consideration of family structure in foster care
by Jonathan Shorman
Lawmakers tasked with examining the state's foster care system voted Monday to recommend family structures be taken into account in child placement decisions.
The move by the Foster Care Adequacy Committee drew a rebuke from Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, who said the move appeared to call for discrimination. "I can't not say something," Kelly said. "This just seems like a blatant attempt to discriminate against same-sex couples."
cjonline.com
January 11, 2016
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Tragic deaths of home-schooled kids rarely lead to new rules
by Bill Draper
A Detroit brother and sister vanished more than two years before they were found dead in a freezer in their home, and an 11-year-old Florida girl disappeared more than a year before she, too, turned up in a family freezer.
And a 7-year-old Kansas boy hadn't been seen for more than a month before authorities found the gruesome remains of a child in a pigsty inside his family's barn. All of them were home-schooled, but despite their disappearances going unnoticed for so long, opposition from the government-wary home-schooling community means it's unlikely these states will start keeping closer tabs on home-schooled children.
startribune.com
December 24, 2015
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Tragic deaths of home-schooled kids rarely lead to new rules
by Bill Draper
A Detroit brother and sister vanished more than two years before they were found dead in a freezer in their home, and an 11-year-old Florida girl disappeared more than a year before she, too, turned up in a family freezer.
And a 7-year-old Kansas boy hadn't been seen for more than a month before authorities found the gruesome remains of a child in a pigsty inside his family's barn. All of them were home-schooled, but despite their disappearances going unnoticed for so long, opposition from the government-wary home-schooling community means it's unlikely these states will start keeping closer tabs on home-schooled children.
startribune.com
December 24, 2015
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Wichita mother sentenced in death of young girl
by Kake News
A Wichita mother has been sentenced to six years in prison for the death of her 3-year-old daughter.
Monica Krueger, 25, had been charged first-degree murder in the June 2014 death of Emma Krueger. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in October and was sentenced Thursday to 72 months in prison.
kake.com
December 4, 2015
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Cops: Child's bones found among pigs, Michael Jones arrested
by Cortney Peltz
Authorities say a child's bones were found among pigs on the property of a Kansas man suspected of killing his 7-year-old son.
Michael A. Jones, 44, of Kansas City was charged on November 27 with abuse of a child, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. Police were initially called to Jones' home on November 25 for a domestic violence situation involving his 29-year-old wife. Jones allegedly battered and assaulted the woman, according to the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office.
hlntv.com
December 3, 2015
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Shona Banda Faces Decades in Prison Because Her Son Questioned Anti-Pot Propaganda
In Live Free or Die, a 2010 memoir recounting how cannabis oil saved her life, Shona Banda emphasizes the importance of "self-taught knowledge," acquired by constantly asking questions and "looking at all of the angles of any information given."
Her son may have learned that lesson too well. Had he been less inquisitive, less prone to question authority, he might still be living with his mother, and she might not be facing criminal charges that could send her to prison for decades. Banda, a 38-year-old massage therapist who appeared in criminal court for the first time last week, is free on a $50,000 bond while her case is pending.
reason.com
June 22, 2015
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Police Promise to Extort, Kidnap, or Lock You in a Cage for Warming Up Your Car
by John Vibes
Roeland Park, KS - Recently in a number of US states, police have been writing people tickets for letting their cars warm up in the morning.
Not only are police extorting people for this common practice, but they have also been rummaging through people's vehicles as a "demonstration" to show them how easily someone could steal their cars or belongings. Ironically the laws are said to be intended to prevent thieves from breaking into cars while the police are doing the job for them instead.
thefreethoughtproject.com
February 6, 2015
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New deadly Bourbon virus in United States
by Kathleen Story
A never-before-seen virus has killed a man in Kansas in 2014.
Most Americans are familiar with Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness in the U.S. at more than 27,000 confirmed cases in 2013. The Bourbon virus is thought to be also transmitted by ticks. The difference is the Bourbon virus is transmitted by a virus called thogotovirus, part of the larger group orthomyxoviruses, as determined by the University of Kansas Hospital researchers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
examiner.com
December 30, 2014
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New effort underway on foster parents bill of rights
by Jonathan Shorman
Lawmakers and advocates are resurrecting an effort to pass a foster care parent's bill of rights as the new legislative session approaches. Legislation passed the Senate during the 2014 session only to die in a House committee.
After the defeat, Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican who chaired the House Judiciary Committee where the bill died, tasked the Kansas Judicial Council with studying the legislation and formulating its own recommendations. A draft of the council's report details a number of rights to be outlined in law - from informing foster parents of training opportunities to giving foster parents information about the well-being of children once they have left the foster home. Perhaps the biggest expansion of foster parents' rights is a recommendation from the council to establish a grievance process for foster parents to object to planned changes of placement when a child has been in a home for more than 30 days, but less than six months. The report calls this recommendation a "significant expansion" of foster parents' rights.
m.cjonline.com
December 28, 2014
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Child abuse reports, foster care placements rising in state
by Andy Marso
The number of children in state custody has risen to record levels in Kansas, correlating with a rising number of child abuse and neglect complaints. As of the beginning of June there were about 7,000 children in the custody of the KDCF.
The number of children in state custody has risen to record levels in Kansas, correlating with a rising number of child abuse and neglect complaints. As of the beginning of June there were about 7,000 children in the custody of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, including 6,168 in out-of-home foster care placement. Bruce Linhos, executive director of the Kansas Children's Alliance, said it's a higher number than ever before and child advocates, social workers and government officials are struggling to pinpoint a cause.
m.cjonline.com
July 26, 2014
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Importance of Pertussis Vaccine Hits Home for Hospital CEO
by Melissa Brunner
TOPEKA, Kan. - Stormont-Vail HealthCare CEO Randy Peterson has a hospital filled with doctors who could tell him the dangers of the pertussis outbreak in recent years.
But it was the message from his daughter Megan in Manhattan, who is expecting her first child, that he heard most loud and clear. "It was pretty much, 'If you want to see your new granddaughter you will get this vaccination!'" Peterson said.
wibw.com
June 27, 2014
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In Need of Care: The girl in the basement
by Deb Gruver
As reports of child abuse and neglect rise locally, the stakes are huge - for the children and for the community. The Eagle takes readers inside two cases to examine how the system works and to show the extent of the problem.
The girl said she knew parents must discipline their children. But the way the people who fostered and then adopted her allegedly punished her was not discipline, according to a doctor's diagnosis introduced in court. It was torture.
kansas.com
May 31, 2014
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More than 60 children in foster care in Harvey County
by Jenna Quintin
Foster care isn't a popular subject. We hope that someone in the Department for Children and Families is taking care of the kids whose parents can't. We probably know someone who is or was connected to the system. But what is really happening to children.
The DCF statistics for 2013 state they have 63 children in Reintegration/Foster Care in Harvey County. Saint Francis Community Services, who was awarded the state contract in 75 of 105 Kansas counties, sponsors 41 children placed with 10 licensed families in Harvey County.
thekansan.com
January 21, 2014
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Kansas officials investigate complaints about Wichita child welfare group
by Dave Ranney
State officials say they are investigating a faith-based group's role in some child welfare cases after a Wichita legislator raised concerns that the organization might be undercutting efforts to reunite some of the children with their parents.
Faust-Goudeau said she began receiving complaints in August that Dixon was encouraging at-risk families to circumvent the state's foster care system by putting their children directly into FaithBuilders' homes before or without a judge's order. photo Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-WIchita View larger photo Generally, when children are taken by the state and ordered into foster homes as the result of parental abuse or neglect, court-appointed attorneys represent them in a confidential hearing. The parents also are allowed legal representation in the custody cases. A judge then decides where to place the child based on evidence presented during the hearing.
khi.org
October 3, 2013
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Eagle editorial: Foster care increase just a coincidence?
Is it merely a coincidence that the numbers of children in foster care in Sedgwick County and Kansas have increased sharply during the time the state has sharply cut welfare eligibility and other support to struggling families? Unlikely...
Over the past two years, near-record numbers of children have entered the state's foster-care system, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. In Sedgwick County, the average number of children in out-of-home placements has increased from 950 in fiscal year 2011 to 1,319 in 2013. Statewide, there were 5,719 children in such placements as of June 30 - only the second time in the past 10 years that the number has exceeded 5,700 on the final day of the state's fiscal year (the last time was at the start of the Great Recession in 2008).
kansas.com
August 18, 2013
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Foster care contracts to change hands Monday
by Dave Ranney
For the past four years, Kansas has paid four child welfare organizations to run the bulk of state government's foster care, adoption, and family preservation programs.
That's soon to change. After July 1, the services will be administered by two providers: KVC Behavioral Health Care in Kansas, which has 13 Kansas offices with main offices in Olathe, and St. Francis Community Services, which has 19 Kansas offices with headquarters in Salina.
khi.org
June 28, 2013
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Kansan charged with having sex with foster teen in her care
by Tim Potter
In what could be the first case of its kind to be prosecuted in Kansas, a woman is facing felony charges of having consensual sex with a 17-year-old in her foster care.
Teresa Lee Snyder, a 44-year-old registered nurse, is charged in McPherson County with four counts of unlawful sexual relations with the teen in August and September while he was a foster child in her care, according to the complaint filed by prosecutors in District Court.
kansas.com
June 8, 2013
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Farmer sues Monsanto over GMO wheat discovery
by Roxana Hegeman
A Kansas farmer has sued seed giant Monsanto over last week's discovery of genetically engineered experimental wheat in Oregon.
The civil lawsuit filed Monday by Elkhart wheat grower Ernest Barnes alleges the finding of the unapproved wheat in an 80-acre field drove down wheat futures prices and caused a backlash from some international markets, which suspended certain imports. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
kansasfirstnews.com
June 4, 2013
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Whole Foods Finally Has a Real Competitor
by Marc Courtenay
Frankly, I seldom shop WFM. The main reason is because there's a locally owned and operated business in my community that sells only natural and organic food and other supplies.
NGVC was built on the premise that consumers should have access to affordable, high-quality foods and dietary supplements, with nutritional guidance to help them support their own health. The family-run store has grown into a successful national chain with locations across Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona and Oregon. Altogether, the company has 1,800 employees.
thestreet.com
April 8, 2013
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Homeschool students hosted at Cowley College
Providing an opportunity for homeschool students to explore one of the best-kept secrets in Kansas higher education, Cowley College hosted the Homeschool College Experience Wednesday, April 3, at its main campus in Arkansas City.
The purpose of the day was to show the students and their families what Cowley College has to offer in terms of the school's majors and programs, activities, athletics, scholarships and facilities.
winfieldcourier.com
April 8, 2013
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Kansas Couple: Indoor Gardening Prompted Pot Raid
Two former CIA employees whose Kansas home was fruitlessly searched for marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted, possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables.
Adlynn and Robert Harte sued this week to get more information about why sheriff's deputies searched their home in the upscale Kansas City suburb of Leawood last April 20 as part of Operation Constant Gardener - a sweep conducted by agencies in Kansas and Missouri that netted marijuana plants, processed marijuana, guns, growing paraphernalia and cash from several other locations.
stlouis.cbslocal.com
March 30, 2013
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Social Workers Immune to Foster Parents' Claims
by Sam Reynolds
A Kansas appellate panel acknowledged that two ex-foster parents had "suffered a devastating violation of their 14th Amendment rights," but ultimately sided with the social workers who removed the couple's would-be adopted son from their care.
The opinion, written by Judge Carlos F. Lucero of the 10th Circuit, describes an "avoidable tragedy" that left foster parents Ann and Greg Elwell grieving an "unrectifiable loss." "This case grows out of an avoidable tragedy. Ann and Greg Elwell were in the process of adopting T.S., a young boy who had been in their care almost his entire life. But approximately one month after a complaint of emotional abuse of another child in the Elwells' care - which all parties agree did not raise concerns for T.S.'s safety or welfare and was subsequently deemed unsubstantiated - state officials withdrew the license allowing the Elwells to care for T.S. and removed him from their home without any advance notice. Despite a state court's finding that the agency acted wrongfully in removing the boy, he was never returned to them."
courthousenews.com
November 30, 2012
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Wichita Homeschool team tops robotics competition at WSU
by Amy Renee Leiker
Wichita Homeschool swept the 14th annual Kansas Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology (BEST) robotic games on Saturday, winning the top two awards and qualifying for regional competition.
Twenty-five Kansas schools and one from Arkansas competed in the daylong event at Wichita State University's Koch Arena. The competition is designed to boost interest in technology, engineering and science careers. Wichita Homeschool won the Game Award, based on points scored by the robot during competition.
kansas.com
November 4, 2012
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McPherson BOE approves student drug testing
by Jenae Pauls
The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education voted in favor of random drug testing for students with a 4-1 vote Monday.
The tests will detect 16 substances in seventh- through 12th-grade students in Kansas State High School Activities Association activities starting this fall. The initial tests, which will be administered up to two times a month, will cost about $30. This will translate to about $5,000 a year, which would come from high school activity funds. "I'm glad it passed," Shane Backhus,
mcphersonsentinel.com
June 17, 2012
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Free Reports and Educational Materials
by Annette M. Hall
If you are concerned about child rights, foster care and the general state of child protective services and our legal system that grinds on, you may find helpful information in these free downloads.
Kidjacked
September 8, 2023
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Sedgwick County, KS | Legislative Public Forum
by Annette M. Hall
Januray 6, 2009, Residents of Sedgwick County, Kansas spoke before Legislators in regards to the illegal seizure of children and violations of State, Federal and Constitutional law against families.
Kidjacked
June 24, 2012
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