After Zoey's death, here's what top Republicans want to change about Kansas laws

After the death of Zoey Felix and the subsequent release of a summary of the state child welfare agency's involvement, the top two Republicans in the Legislature are calling for creation of an independent child advocate's office.

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, were critical of Gov. Laura Kelly, Lt. Gov. David Toland and the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

The DCF summary released Tuesday showed the agency had nine total reports about Zoey, including at least one about her death. While the agency offered services, the family declined help.

After a month of DCF being unable to locate Zoey despite seven attempts, the homeless Topeka 5-year-old died Oct. 2. Prosecutors have charged homeless acquaintance Mickel Cherry with child rape and capital murder.

Top Kansas Republicans criticize Democratic governor

"With the release of the case summary of the child death, it is clear that the Kelly/Toland Administration's Department for Children and Families failed to protect Zoey Felix," Masterson and Hawkins said in a joint statement. "The report indicates their agency had been called nine separate times on the wellbeing of Zoey Felix and yet failed to act to ensure her safety. This young child's tragic death could have been prevented had the agency and this administration done their jobs.

"In her campaign, Governor Kelly pledged to reform the foster care system and keep the children in state care safe; yet we still see children sleeping in offices, have children the agency cannot find, and we now know the agency had nine chances to protect Zoey Felix and failed."

It is not clear what more DCF could have done within the law to prevent Zoey's death. The summary only provides limited information. The full reports could reveal more about what DCF did or did not do, but those records could be sealed in response to The Capital-Journal's open records request, as has happened to the Topeka police affidavit.

The summary does show most reports were unsubstantiated after child protective services investigated. The only substantiated case prior to Zoey's death was in connection to her mother's drunken driving crash, after which the girl was placed with her father.

The family also declined DCF offers of services on three separate occasions. Zoey was never taken into state custody, nor was she placed in foster care.

Top Republicans want an independent child advocate

Masterson and Hawkins are offering a legislative solution.

"This coming session," they said, "the Legislature will act to create an independent Office of Child Advocate, to bring real accountability to the child welfare system. The system is failing multiple children, and its failure to protect Zoey Felix is the final indication that the only way to bring accountability is to create an independent office outside of this administration."

A child advocate's office has long been a political football in Kansas and was a point of debate in last year's governor's race.

Kansas already has a Division of the Child Advocate under the governor's administration that Kelly created through executive order two years ago after the Legislature failed to pass a bill.

It is unclear what, if any, role a child advocate could or should have had in Zoey's case. The Division of the Child Advocate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The intent of the office is to be an independent voice for children and families served by the state's child welfare system, ensuring they receive adequate coordination of services. But Zoey's family declined DCF services multiple times and Zoey was never in state custody, so it would appear that a child advocate likely could do little to help.

Legislature has had trouble passing a bill

What Masterson and Hawkins are proposing — a child advocate's office codified in statute — is something that Kelly has supported.

In 2021, when Kelly created the office through executive order, she acknowledged that a future governor could abolish the office through executive order. At the time, the Democrat said she had "no doubt" the Republican-controlled Legislature would work toward "a way that we can actually cement this in statute, so that it is not subject to any political pressure or bias."

Kelly turned to an executive order after the House and Senate failed to agree on how to structure the office, particularly whether it should be housed under the Legislature or the attorney general's office. A House bill passed a committee but never got a vote in the full chamber, while a Senate bill passed that chamber but never got a vote in the House.

After those attempts in the 2021 session, the Legislature never sent a bill to Kelly's desk in either 2022 or 2023, despite bipartisan calls to do so.

The statement from Masterson and Hawkins didn't lay out a plan for passing a bill or how they would structure the office.

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: With Zoey's death, Kansas Republicans want to pass child advocate law