By DAVE RANNEY

A national expert on the federal government’s plan for reforming its support for child care says Kansas has a lot to be concerned about.

“When you look at Kansas, you see that you’ve lost lots of children who were receiving child care assistance and that you’re paying very low rates to child care providers who serve families getting assistance,” said Helen Blank, director of child care and early learning at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C.

“You don’t want that, and you don’t want that to be cut any further.” Blank addressed a forum Monday in Topeka on policy issues tied to the federal government’s pending rollout of its Child Care and Development Block Grant program, which generates about $42.2 million annually in federal funds for early childhood development and child care assistance programs in Kansas.

The forum was a project of Kansas Action for Children, an organization that advocates for children and families. About 40 people — a mix of child care providers, education officials and early childhood development instructors — attended the four-hour session.

Blank and Stephanie Schmit, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Law and Social Policy based in Washington, D.C., asked the group to realize that while many of the reforms built into the federal reauthorization are meant to improve quality and expand access to services, the measure does not guarantee additional funding. So the challenge that child advocates and state officials now face, they said, is to find a way to finance the mandated improvements without cutting state-funded support for child care services.

Kansas child advocates, Blank said, should resist “being embarrassed” about asking lawmakers for additional funding. It’s not yet clear how much the mandates are likely to cost. Most of the mandates are expected to focus on tightening background checks for child care providers, exposing providers to additional on-site inspections, ensuring low-income families’ access to child care assistance and increasing pay for providers.

Some of the changes may mean that lawmakers will have to alter provisions in a recently enacted welfare reform law. In early August, Kansas Department for Children and Families officials shelved enforcement of a provision that would have blocked families on public assistance from using their state-issued debit cards to withdraw more than $25 a day from an ATM.

The new law, called the Hope Act, also reduced low-income families’ access to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families from 48 months to 36 months. In Kansas, the numbers of children in families on TANF have fallen significantly in recent years from roughly 13,600 children per month in 2011 to 5,000 per month in 2015.

The number of families receiving child care assistance also has declined, said Amanda Gress, a policy analyst with Kansas Action for Children, going from 21,200 in 2008 to 12,800 in 2014.

Gress also noted that state-sanctioned surveys have found that DCF’s child care assistance program pays providers between 35 percent and 40 percent of what families not on public assistance pay. After the federal reauthorization takes effect, the state will be expected pay close 75 percent of the market rate.

In Kansas, families are eligible for child care assistance if their incomes fall below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $3,100 a month for a parent with two young children. Payments vary depending on the number of children and their ages. Most parents have co-pays.

Congress agreed to both reauthorize and reform the grant program in 2014, directing states to file new plans by June 2015. The deadline was later pushed back to March 2016 due to delays in crafting rules and regulations that define what states will and will not be allowed to do.

Kansas Action for Children’s chief executive, Shannon Cotsoradis, said Monday’s forum was meant to set the stage for a discussion in both the public and legislative arenas on how the state will respond to the reauthorization act.

“There is no indication at this point that we can count on additional federal dollars coming in,” Cotsoradis said. “That’s not to say they won’t be there, but there’s no guarantee. So the state needs to devise a plan that recognizes that those dollars may not be forthcoming.”

Last week, Cotsoradis let it be known that a months-long efforts to include DCF officials in the discussion had been unsuccessful. Though they were invited, no one from DCF or the Kansas Department of Health and Environment attended Monday’s forum.

Theresa Freed, a spokesperson for DCF, said the department’s Child Care Licensing Systems Improvement Team will host a similar forum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Kansas Association of School Boards office, 1420 SW Arrowhead Road, in Topeka. The meeting, she said, will be open to the public.

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

SALINA- Law enforcement authorities in Saline County have made an arrest of a burglary suspect who turned himself in.

Police placed a picture of the burglary suspect on the department’s Facebook page.

Late Monday morning a neighbor of a resident that lives in the 600 block of Charles Street, watched 35-year-old Brian Ebel climb over a fence and enter the garage.

The neighbor took a picture of Ebel and then called police.

When Ebel became aware of the photo on the Facebook page, he turned himself in.

Nothing was taken from the garage.

Ebel was booked into the Saline County Jail on a requested charge of burglary.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback’s nominee for Kansas commerce secretary has withdrawn from consideration for the job over what the governor’s office says is potential conflicts of interest.

Brownback’s office announced Tuesday that Leawood businessman George Hansen asked the Republican governor not to submit his appointment to the state Senate for confirmation.

The governor’s office said Hansen cited what he called extensive business dealings between the state Department of Commerce and a member of his extended family.

Hansen said in a news release distributed by the governor’s office that Brownback needs a full-time commerce secretary and not someone who would have to continually remove himself from decisions.

Brownback appointed Hansen last month after Pat George stepped down as secretary.

Hansen has been president and CEO of a Johnson County venture capital organization.

Little Apple Post

MANHATTAN –  A former Kansas State University student who drove drunk and killed two people in a head-on collision was resentenced on Monday.

Theurer was 23 on May 14, 2012, when he drove in the wrong lane through a construction zone along Kansas 18 while returning to Manhattan after a night at a Junction City strip club.

Authorities say Theurer’s vehicle collided with a car at 2:45 a.m., killing Elizabeth Young, 31, White City and Michael Stanley, 32, Ogden.

Theurer served 60 days in the county jail and has been under house arrest since pleading guilty in Riley County Court to two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter and DUI.

According to Court Services, Theurer received zero violations during his house arrest and gave 41 speeches about the accident as part of the original sentencing.

Judge Bosch sentenced Theurer to 41 months for each count of Involuntary Manslaughter and the DUI sentence to run concurrent with 36 months of post release supervision.

Theurer will be granted time off his sentence for time served at the county jail and time served under house arrest.

Theurer was also allowed self-surrender to authorities on Monday, September 5 at 9 a.m. He also has 14 days to appeal his sentence.

TOPEKA – Garden City and Great Bend have been selected as finalists for development of transload shipping centers.

The two communities emerged from a group of seven cities, whose representatives made formal presentations in August before the Transload Facility Site Analysis Selection Committee, which includes private sector representatives. The seven cities are among 111 sites that were initially proposed.

The Kansas Department of Transportation, along with the Kansas Turnpike Authority and departments of Commerce and Agriculture, served as advisors to the team.

In the coming weeks, Garden City and Great Bend leaders will be asked to provide business plans and financial models that will detail the development costs and the projected increase in related rail service and business opportunity. Based on that and other relevant information, the state will determine the amount of funding to contribute to the projects.

“I’m confident the cities, state and rail providers will develop a funding package that will allow these projects to move forward,” said Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King.

Transloading is the process of moving goods from one mode of transportation to another, or in this case, from truck to rail and rail to truck. By blending the benefits of shipping by rail and local/short haul trucking, a transload facility can provide more flexible and cost-effective solutions for customers who may not have local access to freight rail service or those who need expanded warehousing.

“I was extremely pleased with the process and partnerships with the trucking industry and the railroads,” said Secretary King of the proposals. “We learned a great deal about railroad operations, expectations and the potential we have in our state.”

The Transload Facility Site Analysis Selection Committee comprises Kansans from industry, finance, transportation, technology, agriculture, banking, development and energy.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he is letting all priests in the church’s upcoming Year of Mercy absolve the “sin of abortion” if they seek forgiveness with a “contrite heart.”

Francis said in letter Tuesday explaining his decision that he has met many women bearing “the scar of this agonizing” decision to abort. He said God’s forgiveness cannot be denied to those who repent, and thus is giving all priests the discretion to absolve the sin in the Holy Year of Mercy running Dec. 8, 2015 until late November 2016.

JETMORE- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 6:30a.m. on Tuesday in Hodgeman County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Honda Civic driven by Melissa V. Nunez, 37, Garden City, was eastbound on Kansas156 six miles west of Jetmore.

The vehicle hit a deer that came out of the north ditch.

Nunez was transported to the Hodgeman County Hospital. She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State students will have to sign a sportsmanship pledge before they can pick up their tickets for sporting events this year.

The pledge requires students to refrain from using profanity and inappropriate chants and to show respect for all athletes, coaches, fans and officials.

The Wichita Eagle reports the sportsmanship pledge is the first in the Big 12 Conference.

The pledge comes after problems arose during a Kansas State-Kansas basketball game last season in Manhattan. Students chanted inappropriate language during the game and stormed the court afterward, and one student seemed to intentionally bump a Kansas player.

Kansas State officials say students who behave badly during games will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.