In the six years since Kansas privatized its adoption and foster care systems, 37 children have died while under the care of contractors.

But how that compares with other states that have not turned over their child welfare programs to private contractors is anybody’s guess.

“The problem you run into is that reliable data is extremely difficult to come by. Each state has its own way of defining child deaths and the numbers, while tragic, are so small — you don’t want to use them to make comparisons,” said John Poertner, a former Kansas University social welfare professor who recently retired as director of the Children and Family Research Center in the school of social work at the University of Illinois.

Still, Poertner said he was not alarmed: “Thirty-seven children in six years? That’s not out of line, that’s about what it is for the children overall. If it were any higher than that, there would be cause for concern.”

Kansas privatized most of its child welfare services in 1997.

According to Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services data, 22 of the 37 deaths were attributed to fragile medical conditions. Of the remaining 15 deaths:

• Nine were “accidental,” a category that includes drowning and vehicular accidents.

¢ Teen dies in Missouri foster home (9-10-03)¢ SRS Foster Care

• Three were caused by abuse or neglect.
• One was a suicide.
• One was the victim of a drive-by shooting.
• One remains “undetermined.”

SRS spokesman Kyle Kessler confirmed that the “undetermined” case involved the 14-year-old boy in foster care who apparently hanged himself while staying at a group home in Kansas City, Mo.

The boy’s body was found Sept. 5. His death remains under investigation.

“We are cooperating fully with the investigation,” Kessler said. “We want to determine what caused this tragedy and, more importantly, to see what can be done to prevent it happening in the future.”

Currently, Kansas has about 4,600 children in foster care; 1,500 awaiting adoption.

The 37 deaths are among those tracked each year by the state’s Child Death Review Board.

“On average, around 500 children die in a year — these are children who were in state when they died and Kansas children who happened to be out of state. We count both,” said Eric Haar, executive director at the review board.

Historically, 60 percent of the deaths are due to natural causes, Haar said; an additional 20 percent are considered accidental.

The Child Death Review Board doesn’t keep separate statistics for children in state custody, Haar said.