A Kansas University professor on Wednesday criticized lawmakers’ 1996 decision to privatize most of the state’s child welfare system, calling the move ill-conceived, hasty and harmful to troubled children.

“It was a situation in which a mantra seemed to evolve,” said Rick Spano, associate dean at KU’s School of Social Welfare. “And that mantra was ‘private is good, public is bad.'”

The system’s problems, he said, required solutions far more sophisticated than those offered by privatization.

State welfare officials disagree, insisting the new system is an improvement from the old.

Kansas privatized its adoption, foster care and family preservation services six years after its Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services failed several court-ordered performance reviews.

Though it now appears the switch has lead to more children spending less time in foster care, Spano said there’s little or no evidence that today’s abused and neglected children are truly better off than they were under the SRS-run system.

“We need to know what happens to these children after they leave the system, but we don’t. Instead, we’re told, ‘They’re no longer in care,’ like that’s what really matters,” said Spano, addressing a luncheon meeting of the University Forum at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. About 60 people a mix of retirees, foster parents, social workers and students attended.

The new system, Spano said, is wracked by “an incredible amount of distrust” caused by the SRS’ poor communication and minimal planning.

“There was not enough discussion to achieve clarity of the consequences,” he said, adding, “The wounds have not healed.”

Spano said privatization had forced him to oversee the closing of a Lawrence group home sponsored by the Trinity Episcopal Church. He had helped run the home for 21 years.

The new contracts, he said, weren’t enough to cover the costs of providing the services the children needed.

“It was a very painful process to go through,” he said.

Matt Loehr, who oversees foster care services for contractor Kaw Valley Center in a seven-county area that includes Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson, disputed Spano’s analysis.

“The system in place today is a lot different than the one in place six years ago,” he said, citing statistics showing dramatic reductions in the numbers of children in foster care.

SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky agreed with Loehr.

“Back in 1996, we had about 4,700 (foster) children in out-of-home placements,” Schalansky said. “Today, that number is down to around 3,300. That’s significant. Things are continuing to get better.”

But Spano said he found little comfort in SRS’ and Kaw Valley Center’s assurances.

“I still get calls all the time from people in the system who say, ‘I’ve got this kid, what am going to do?'”