Kansas
What Kansas reported to the federal government about the children in its custody and the children it investigated. Where a year says not reported, that is the record.
The funnel, FFY 2024
Kansas vs. national
What happened to reports of child maltreatment in Kansas in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.
| Stage | Kansas | Rate | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals | 50,902 | 73.5per 1,000 children | 59.3 |
| Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals | 24,41348.0% of referrals | — | 47.1% |
| Screened outCounts: referrals | 26,48952.0% of referrals | — | 52.9% |
| Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children | 25,008 | 36.1per 1,000 children | 40.6 |
| Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children | 2,008 | 2.9per 1,000 children | 7.2 |
| Child fatalitiesCounts: children | 16 | 2.31per 100,000 children | 2.41 |
Referrals, reports, children, and victims are four different denominators and are not interchangeable. A referral may concern more than one child; a child may appear in more than one referral; a victim is a child with a substantiated or indicated disposition. National figures are the Children's Bureau's own estimates, not sums of the state rows.
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS), Tables 2-3, 3-1, 3-3, 4-1
What Kansas does not report
For the measures on this page, Kansas reported a figure in every year covered. That is not the same as the figures being complete or comparable — see the methodology for what the federal record does not measure at all.
Maltreatment and fatalities over time (NCANDS)
Child fatalities reported to NCANDS, Kansas, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities
Child maltreatment victims, Kansas, FFY2020 to FFY2024
Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)
KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child victims (substantiated or indicated)
Foster care (AFCARS)
| Measure | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopted with public agency involvement | 674 | 695 | 783 | 870 | 674 | 936 | 1,227 | 985 | 840 | 959 |
| Entered foster care | 3,963 | 3,844 | 3,984 | 3,880 | 3,997 | 4,227 | 4,212 | 3,032 | 3,172 | 3,096 |
| Exited foster care | 3,404 | 3,333 | 3,374 | 3,628 | 3,385 | 3,696 | 3,998 | 3,607 | 3,199 | 3,253 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 6,441 | 6,762 | 7,223 | 7,302 | 7,753 | 8,068 | 8,066 | 7,242 | 7,085 | 6,808 |
| Children served in foster care | 9,845 | 10,095 | 10,597 | 10,930 | 11,138 | 11,764 | 12,064 | 10,849 | 10,284 | 10,061 |
| Termination of parental rights | 1,210 | 1,217 | 1,286 | 1,481 | 1,667 | 1,811 | 1,695 | 1,480 | 1,638 | 1,584 |
| Waiting for adoption | 1,843 | 2,116 | 2,340 | 2,392 | 2,583 | 2,616 | 2,376 | 2,303 | 2,464 | 2,221 |
Source: AFCARS state tables, FY2013 to FY2022
AFCARS 2020 rule, FFY2023 to FFY2025 (preliminary)
Collected under the AFCARS 2020 final rule, first effective FFY 2023. Counts include ages 0 to 23. Figures are preliminary estimates from submissions received by February 27, 2026, and states may still revise them. This series is not comparable with the FY 2013 to FY 2022 series, which was collected under the 1993 rule and counted a narrower population; this site does not join the two. Wyoming first submitted under the new rule for FFY 2024 and Washington for FFY 2025; earlier years for those states are shown as not reported.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entered foster care | 2,171 | 2,239 | 4,416 |
| In foster care on September 30 | 4,672 | 4,114 | 7,022 |
| Exited foster care | 2,937 | 2,772 | 1,477 |
Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)
Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)
Kansas in the archive
What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.
- Adoption & Foster Care In America – (their stories, your state)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJune 19, 2026
Foster Care; Every state is struggling to make life safe for traumatized state ward children. Here are their stories from October & November 2017; KS: Nowhere Else to Go: Why Kids Are Sleeping in Child Welfare Offices (Commentary) Governing...
- America’s Child Abuse Emergency: 546,000 Victims, 2,000 Deaths, and a System That Chooses This
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJune 6, 2026
Child abuse in the United States is not rare or random — it is the predictable outcome of policy choices. In 2023, about 546,000 children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect and an estimated 2,000 were killed, roughly five children e...
- Deregulation & the Child Abuse Abolition Movement
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJanuary 15, 2026
There is a growing abolition / “dismantle CPS” movement in the U.S., but so far it is more rhetorical and advocacy‑driven than implemented in statute, and no state has fully “deregulated” or abolished CPS. Advocates, scholars, and campaign...
- The Importance of Foster Youth Rights (find your State here)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 22, 2025
This article is derived from Hana Ikramuddin's excellent Imprint News Article about Fosters not being notified of their rights - Read the Imprint article here. Hana tells us the story of AIayna Ghost’s years in Foster Care from ages 7 to 18...
- CASA Volunteers Save Money (Multiple State Investigation Results)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 2, 2025
The following CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) investigations demonstrate the cost savings and economic impact of CASA programs in child protection across the nation. They do not include the value a trained community volunteer brings...
- The Assault on Child Protection - Part 2
KARA reportingMike TikkanenJuly 14, 2025
The combined cuts to child friendly programs will impact some states more than other. This article presents a snapshot of what different states will be experiencing. Send KARA information concerning what's happening in your state (send to i...
- Child Welfare News Fall 2024 (compiled articles)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenSeptember 12, 2024
KARA compiles child abuse and neglect stories and data about abused and neglected children
- Rebuttal to Prior Post (rebuttals are encouraged)
KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 10, 2023
I must address the article in the KARA newsletter today (last Friday) where the failure to protect these known victims is not laid at the feet of CPS.