Agency:  Foster care system in Kansas is improving

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A Kansas officials says the state has improved the foster care system in response to a scathing federal report and the settlement of class-action lawsuits. 

Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, testified Tuesday in the first of a series of hearings state lawmakers are holding to discuss the foster care system. 

A federal report last month found, among other things, that the DCF didn’t comply with safety standards in 24 of the state’s 31 group homes. 

The state also settled a lawsuit from three nonprofits to end a 2018 federal suit that demanded better care of foster kids.