TOPEKA — The number of Kansas children who died from fentanyl overdoses reached a three-year high in 2022, according to an annual report on child deaths statewide, which highlighted the need for preventative services and improvements to Kansas’ child welfare system.
A total of 389 Kansas children died in 2022, according to the State Child Death Review Board’s 2024 report, which the Attorney General’s Office released Monday. While the majority of those deaths were because of natural causes, the board found room for improvement in preventative measures, especially when children were involved with Child Protective Services at the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
More than half, 52%, of the Kansas children who died of unnatural causes, which includes drug-related deaths, between 2019 and 2022 had a history with Child Protective Services before their death.
The board determined fentanyl-related deaths among Kansas children “surged” in the past five years in what the Attorney General’s Office called a “troubling rise in drug related deaths” in kids aged 17 years and younger. Thirteen of the 16 drug-related deaths among Kansas children in 2022 involved fentanyl, according to the report. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used for pain mitigation in medical settings and is often illegally manufactured as counterfeit pills. Fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States have risen dramatically since 2012.
A total of 33 Kansas children died from fentanyl between 2020 and 2022 compared to zero fentanyl deaths in 2018 and 2019. Kansas’ five most populous counties have a drug-related death rate 10 times higher than the rest of the state, according to the report. The Attorney General’s Office said in a Monday press release the numbers “highlight a significant and alarming trend associated with fentanyl.”
The board reviewed one case in which a child showed a friend what was believed to be a prescription pain pill. The next morning, the child was found unresponsive. The child died of a fentanyl overdose.
Provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows drug overdose deaths have declined overall between 2023 and 2024. Overdose deaths in Kansas reached an all-time recorded high in 2022 but also show a decline in recent years.
Of the total 1,463 child deaths between 2019 and 2022 in Kansas, 529 children, or 36%, had a history with the child welfare system, specifically the Department for Children and Families’ division of Child Protective Services, according to the report. That percentage rises when child deaths from natural causes are removed.
More than 70% of children who died of a homicide had current or past DCF Child Protective Services involvement before their deaths. Teenage boys are more likely to die of a homicide, according to the report.
“Through the review of more than 13,000 child fatalities since 1994, which includes the social circumstances of the lives of these children, there is an ever-increasing awareness that our social welfare system is directly connected to the potential prevention of child fatalities in our state,” the report said. “The Board sees opportunities in this area to improve the outcomes for our children.”
The report said Kansas children continue to be at risk because of a lack of resources to provide “thorough, consistent, and adequate” investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect.
“The deaths of several children in recent years have been widely reported in the media due to concerns about DCF actions or inactions; those deaths are not isolated examples,” the report said.
DCF had 70 reports on one child at the time of their death. Some included allegations of abuse from family members and DCF-contracted staff and sexual assault according to the report.
“All reports were unsubstantiated,” the report said.
The child had mental health diagnoses and 20 hospital visits, struggled to attend school because of bullying, used substances, had more than 80 different placements while in DCF custody and went missing from custody more than 10 times. The child eventually died because of their “use of drugs and lack of health maintenance,” the report said.
“This youth faced many issues including family, educational, medical, emotional, and mental health neglect and abuse,” the report said. “Although steps were taken to support this youth, there were many shortcomings seen in all systems. This youth needed earlier and higher levels of consistent, wraparound services.”
The board’s 2023 report indicated that DCF ignores signs of abuse and neglect resulting in child deaths.
The board recommended in the 2024 report that DCF reconsider the policy that allows newborns and infants to remain in a home previously deemed unsafe for older children. Board recommendations also included ensuring compliance with child abuse and neglect prevention, increasing access to affordable and high-quality child care and adhering to proper welfare investigation standards.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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