Kansas child mortality report highlights ‘rise’ in fentanyl deaths and child welfare issues • Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA – The number of children in Kansas who died from fentanyl overdoses reached their highest level in three years in 2022. That’s according to an annual report on child deaths across the state that 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 most of these deaths were due to natural causes, the board found that there was a need for improvement in preventive measures, particularly when involving children in the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ child protective services.

More than half, 52%, of Kansas children who died from unnatural causes, including drug-related deaths, between 2019 and 2022 had a history of child protective services prior to their death.

The agency concluded that the number of fentanyl-related deaths among children in Kansas “has increased sharply” over the past five years, reflecting a “concerning increase in drug-related deaths” among children ages 17 and younger, according to the attorney general’s office designated. Thirteen of the 16 drug-related child deaths in Kansas in 2022 involved fentanyl, according to the report. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used in medical settings to relieve pain and is often manufactured illegally as counterfeit pills. Fentanyl overdose deaths have occurred in the United States increased dramatically since 2012.

Between 2020 and 2022, a total of 33 children in Kansas died from fentanyl, compared to zero fentanyl-related deaths in 2018 and 2019. According to the report, Kansas’ five most populous counties have a drug-related mortality rate 10 times higher than the rest of the state . The attorney general’s office said in a news release Monday that the numbers “highlight a significant and alarming trend related to fentanyl.”

The committee considered a case in which a child showed a friend what was believed to be a prescription painkiller. The next morning the child was found to be unresponsive. The child died of a fentanyl overdose.

Provisionally Data The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows that overall drug overdose deaths declined between 2023 and 2024. Overdose deaths in Kansas reached a record high in 2022 but have also seen declines in recent years.

Of the 1,463 total child deaths between 2019 and 2022 in Kansas, 529 children, or 36%, had a history of involvement with the child welfare system, specifically the Department of Children and Families’ Division of Child Protective Services, the report said. This percentage increases if the number of child deaths from natural causes ceases.

More than 70% of children who died in homicides were currently or previously involved with DCF Child Protective Services prior to their death. Teenage boys are more likely to die from homicide, according to the report.

“By reviewing more than 13,000 child deaths since 1994, including the social circumstances of these children’s lives, there is growing awareness that our social system is directly related to the potential prevention of child deaths in our state,” it says the report. “The board sees opportunities in this area to improve outcomes for our children.”

The report said children in Kansas remain at risk because of a lack of resources to conduct “thorough, consistent and appropriate” investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect.

“The deaths of several children in recent years have been widely reported in the media because of concerns about DCF’s actions or inactions; “These deaths are not isolated incidents,” the report said.

DCF had 70 reports on a child at the time of his death. Some included allegations of abuse by family members and DCF contract employees, as well as sexual assault, according to the report.

“All reports were unfounded,” the report said.

The child was diagnosed with mental illness and was hospitalized 20 times. He had difficulty attending school due to bullying, used drugs, was placed in more than 80 different placements while in DCF custody, and went missing from custody more than 10 times. The child ultimately died due to “drug use and poor health maintenance,” the report said.

“This youth faced many issues including familial, educational, medical, emotional and psychological neglect and abuse,” the report said. “Although steps were taken to support these youth, there were many deficiencies in all systems. These youth needed earlier and more comprehensive, comprehensive services.”

The board’s 2023 report shows that DCF ignores signs of abuse and neglect that lead to the deaths of children.

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. The committee’s recommendations also included ensuring compliance with child abuse and neglect prevention, improving access to affordable and quality child care, and maintaining appropriate welfare screening standards.