Every year, tens of thousands of Kansas families are reported to the Department of Children and Family Services for child abuse. And every year, the vast majority of those claims are found to be unsubstantiated.
DCFS, however, is unable to account for large fluctuations in the number of yearly claims over the last 10 years and has declined to answer questions about those fluctuations and changes in policy.
In 2014,
there were 33,740 abuse reports to DCFS, of which 31,700, or about 94%, DCFS said were unsubstantiated. In 2023, the last year for which numbers are available, there were a total of 18,123 reports, of which 4% were substantiated an 96% were not.
That’s a significant drop in the number of abuse reports, numbers were similar in 2022 with a total of 18,983 reports — just under 97% of them unsubstantiated.
However, the 2020 and 2021 numbers were closer to the historical average of around 30,000 reports per year. There were also significant single-year drops in 2017 and 2019, with numbers spiking back to historical averages the following year.
The Sentinel asked DCFS to explain to what the department attributed these drops.
DCFS Deputy Director of Media Relations Erin LaRow said that the standard of evidence and the types of “finding” changed.
“In July 2016 (SFY 2017), the standard of evidence was changed from clear and convincing to preponderance,” LaRow said. “In addition, a new finding type of ‘affirmed’ was added, which created a three-tiered system.”
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