TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ top child welfare official on Monday proposed $24 million in additional spending over three years and said her agency needs to hire dozens of workers who are not licensed social workers to conduct investigations into reports of abuse and neglect.

 

 

 

The measures outlined by Gina Meier-Hummel, secretary of the state Department for Children and Families, would be on top of the two-year, $16.5 million package she and Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer announced in January. Their first plan was designed to address ongoing problems in the state’s foster care system.

Meier-Hummel became DCF secretary in December, after months of growing criticism of the department and her predecessor in the wake of several high-profile deaths of children in abusive homes.

Meier-Hummel acknowledged that dozens of children in state custody still slept in foster care contractors’ offices overnight temporarily in recent months, even after she publicly declared it an “unacceptable” practice. As of Monday morning, the state still had 74 runaway foster children missing, with number as high as 90 in recent months.

The secretary said the department is working on speeding up children’s placement with relatives or foster homes. But she said DCF has more than 200 child protective services jobs open and cannot find enough licensed social workers to fill them — prompting its plan to hire workers with four-year college degrees outside of social work.

“I think it’s more concerning not to have the positions filled,” she said.

Much of the $24 million sought by DCF would allow it to improve the child welfare system’s information technology systems. It also would allow the department to give child protective services workers pay raises — and pay more to new workers, including the non-social workers.

Legislators would consider the extra spending after returning from their annual spring break Thursday to wrap up their business for the year.

Meier-Hummel said DCF can change its hiring practices on its own. She said Kansas is among a handful of states hiring only licensed social workers for protective services and that consultants have advised it to make the change.

But Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly expressed concern, saying social workers are trained to understand family dynamics and using other workers “can backfire in a lot of ways.”

Lawmakers also were upset to learn last year that dozens of children in the state’s care had to sleep overnight in contractors’ offices this year because foster homes weren’t immediately available and that dozens were reported missing from the state’s foster care system. The  problems have persisted.

“That means we’re not going in the right direction,” Kelly said Monday.

Meier-Hummel told reporters that DCF is making progress in addressing the problems.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ top child welfare official is proposing additional spending and says her agency needs to hire workers who are not licensed social workers to conduct investigations.

Department for Children and Families Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel outlined initiatives Monday that would cost $24 million over three years.

The new spending would more than double the size of a $16.5 million package of initiatives for that she and Gov. Jeff Colyer outlined in January to improve services for abused and neglected children.

Some of the new funds would go to hire child protective services workers to conduct abuse and neglect investigations. She said the state has more than 200 positions to fill and cannot find enough licensed social workers.

Legislators would consider the new proposals after their annual spring break ends Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — If you’ve ever wondered exactly what sorts of things Facebook would like you not to do on its service, you’re in luck. For the first time, the social network is publishing detailed guidelines to what does and doesn’t belong on its service — 27 pages worth of them, in fact.

So please don’t make credible violent threats or revel in sexual violence; promote terrorism or the poaching of endangered species; attempt to buy marijuana, sell firearms, or list prescription drug prices for sale; post instructions for self-injury; depict minors in a sexual context; or commit multiple homicides at different times or locations.

Facebook already banned most of these actions on its previous “community standards” page , which sketched out the company’s standards in broad strokes. But on Tuesday it will spell out the sometimes gory details.

The updated community standards will mirror the rules its 7,600 moderators use to review questionable posts, then decide if they should be pulled off Facebook. And sometimes whether to call in the authorities.

The standards themselves aren’t changing, but the details reveal some interesting tidbits. Photos of breasts are OK in some cases — such as breastfeeding or in a painting — but not in others. The document details what counts as sexual exploitation of adults or minors, but leaves room to ban more forms of abuse, should it arise.

Since Facebook doesn’t allow serial murders on its service, its new standards even define the term. Anyone who has committed two or more murders over “multiple incidents or locations” qualifies. But you’re not banned if you’ve only committed a single homicide. It could have been self-defense, after all.

Reading through the guidelines gives you an idea of how difficult the jobs of Facebook moderators must be. These are people who have to read and watch objectionable material of every stripe and then make hard calls — deciding, for instance, if a video promotes eating disorders or merely seeks to help people. Or what crosses the line from joke to harassment, from theoretical musing to direct threats, and so on.

Moderators work in 40 languages. Facebook’s goal is to respond to reports of questionable content within 24 hours. But the company says it doesn’t impose quotas or time limits on the reviewers.

The company has made some high-profile mistakes over the years. For instance, human rights groups say Facebook has mounted an inadequate response to hate speech and the incitement of violence against Muslim minorities in Myanmar. In 2016, Facebook backtracked after removing an iconic 1972 Associated Press photo featuring a screaming, naked girl running from a napalm attack in Vietnam. The company initially insisted it couldn’t create an exception for that particular photograph of a nude child, but soon reversed itself, saying the photo had “global importance.”

Monica Bickert, Facebook’s head of product policy and counterterrorism, said the detailed public guidelines have been a long time in the works. “I have been at this job five years and I wanted to do this that whole time,” she said. Bickert said Facebook’s recent privacy travails, which forced CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify for 10 hours before Congress, didn’t prompt their release now.

The policy is an evolving document, and Bickert said updates go out to the content reviewers every week. Facebook hopes it will give people clarity if posts or videos they report aren’t taken down. Bickert said one challenge is having the same document guide vastly different “community standards” around the world. What passes as acceptable nudity in Norway may not pass in Uganda or the U.S.

There are more universal gray areas, too. For instance, what exactly counts as political protest? How can you know that the person in a photo agreed to have it posted on Facebook? That latter question is the main reason for Facebook’s nudity ban, Bickert said, since it’s “hard to determine consent and age.” Even if the person agreed to be taped or photographed, for example, they may not have agreed to have their naked image posted on social media.

Facebook uses a combination of the human reviewers and artificial intelligence to weed out content that violates its policies. But its AI tools aren’t close to the point where they could pinpoint subtle differences in context and history — not to mention shadings such as humor and satire — that would let them make judgments as accurate as those of humans.

And of course, humans make plenty of mistakes themselves.

GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating four suspects on drug charges.

Just after 1a.m. Sunday, deputies stopped a vehicle on U.S. 77 in Geary County.

Deputies arrested Eric J. Swarts, Enterprise and Samantha A. McMahon, Manhattan, on  different counts ranging from Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute to Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute.

Deputies arrested Lauren A. Ginesi, Manhattan, on suspicion of Possession of Methamphetamine, Drug Paraphernalia, and Marijuana, and Tyler J. Hann, Wichita, on suspicion of Possession of

Methamphetamine, Drug Paraphernalia and Marijuana.

STAFFORD COUNTY — Five people were injured in an accident just before 6p.m. Sunday in Stafford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Nathan Stoney, 27, Kingman, was southbound on U.S. 281 ten miles south of Great Bend.

A deer ran out from west ditch, collided with rear passenger side of van, entered the van and exited out the rear hatch window.

Stoney and passengers Eli Stoney, one-month; Dylan Stoney, 2, Owen Sikes, 6; and Zoey Sikes, 8, all of Kingman, were transported to Great Bend Regional Medical Center.

All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — A former volunteer at a small Missouri museum has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of Civil War and World War I artifacts.

A warrant was issued Monday for the arrest of 38-year-old Terry Cockrell, a 2010 Sedalia mayoral candidate who volunteered for eight years at the Pettis County Museum before moving last fall to Coffeyville, Kansas. He’s charged with two felony counts of stealing $750 or more. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

Police say some of the items missing from the museum, including a surgical kit, firearms and a sword, were tracked to a Tennessee collector, who bought them last summer without realizing they were stolen. Museum co-curator Charles Wise says display cases had been rearranged to conceal the thefts, which weren’t reported until last month.

Sedalia police Det. Jill Green said in the probable cause statement that Cockrell falsely told the collector that he received the items as a gift from a neighbor who gave them in return for a favor. Green said Cockrell was tied to the theft by a form he signed that stated he was the true owner of the sword and had obtained it legitimately.

Green said Cockrell initially said he had been given the artifacts by someone who died 20 years ago but later admitted to removing them from display case. The collector is helping to return as many of the items as possible after re-selling some of the antiques to buyers in other states. A revolver and a World War I era flare pistol also were reported stolen but weren’t sold to the collector.

The Pettis County Historical Society, which operates the museum, is now considering new measures to prevent future thefts. Wise said that the museum didn’t regularly check its inventory in the past and fully trusted its volunteers.

SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child endangerment charges.

Just after 5p.m. Sunday, police responded to a call from a neighbor concerened about children at a home in the 900 Block of Pontiac in Salina, according to Police Sergeant Jim Feldman.

The police discovered children ages nine, six, four, and one left unattended for extended period of time. Police were also concerned about the condition inside of the home, according to Feldman.

Police located and arrested the mother 24-year-old Kayan Woods on requested charges of with endangering a child and interference with law enforcement.