Blaise Mesa
Social Services and Criminal Justice ReporterAs a criminal justice and social service reporter, it's my job to ensure the systems designed to help people are working as intended. Thousands of Kansans deal with the criminal justice or foster care systems each day. I strive to hold all agencies and departments accountable for the work they are doing. Reach me at blaise@kcur.org.
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Derek Schmidt and Laura Kelly do agree on the need for mental health services, but not all policy ideas align. -
The prison system announced the change after the Kansas News Service pointed out possible issues.
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Centurion of Kansas has been fined almost 5,000 times for compliance issues.
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The Division of the Child Advocate, an office less than a year old, has already closed seven cases and found some troubling handling of foster care.
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Changes in state law should help expand mental health services, but it will take years to get everyone on board.
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The decision could have wide-ranging impacts for biological families aggrieved by a judge's decision on whether to give custody rights to adoptive or foster families.
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The state is trying to make it easier for someone with a suspended license to get some driving privileges with restricted licenses. But people are still missing out.
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Attorneys in rural Kansas are getting older and have larger workloads. A statewide task force will try to find solutions.
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The larger facilities in central and southern Kansas are stretched thin. Hospital staff say rural facilities lack resources to help.
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Nine Kansas counties must hand recount votes for the defeated state constitutional amendment on abortion after advocates raised $120,000 to pay for the effort. The largely symbolic recount won't change the result of the election.
