Christa Fisher’s Story

subcommittee for children & families – contacting both my state’s Senators who happen to be on it, the Children’s Bureau, Children’s Cabinet, Child Gateway, my local representative & Senator, I have testified before my state committee for child welfare & foster care oversight as well as made numerous submissions, (w the help of my attorney), & reached out to nearly every committee member who has a phone # published, 2 have returned my contacts. KS state government is a little different in that they meet for 90 days, give or take, w the exception of some extra mtgs thrown in here & there. Needless to say, I’ve been on my journey yo ignite KS DCF reform for nearly 5 years, & have accomplished nothing. More families have been separated while I was wasting my time, & more children have been abused & died in DCF care. Almost as horrific as what I continued to uncover about DCF however, is what I learned about my government. I’ll the 1st to admit, prior to 1/29/18, I believed we had a fair & just government, w the rare exception. When our daughter was taken, I honestly believed “This is all a mistake, when we get to court it will be straightened out.” Then, I believed if I can get the data, statistics, & other unacceptable information my research shows into the hands of the right person within the right government agency, they’ll start taking the necessary steps towards DCF reform. The joke’s on me. They all knew. They all know. They all have DCF oversight, they just aren’t using it & they know I, a mere tax paying constituent, can do nothing to change that. The ACF, (Administration for Children & Families), is one of the 2 largest agencies under the HHS, & they ACF receives $62 billion/year, of which 14% goes to foster care. 53% of KS DCF budget comes from the ACF, which grants the ACF, HHS, OIG, OLAB, etc. oversight over DCF. Having reached the top, w nowhere to go, no one left to call, I called Cabinet member Secretary of HHS Xavier Becerra’s office. Of course I wasn’t allowed to speak to him, but I had a nice conversation w his administrative assistant. I do plan on writing him, but seeing as his bio, & background make no mention of DCF, etc. I’m not holding my breath. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Christa Fisher