A Douglas County judge on Tuesday blasted Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ plan to cut $4 million from the state’s foster care budget.

“This is a shell game,” said juvenile court Judge Jean Shepherd. “It’s playing games with money; it’s not about meeting the needs of these kids.”

Under the governor’s proposal, children could not remain in foster care after they turn 18; currently, they’re allowed to stay until they turn 21.

Also, 16- to 18-year-old children could not remain in foster care if they had not been abused or neglected. Most of these children are thought to be in foster care because they are mentally ill or beyond their parents’ control.

State records show that about 600 children in foster care are there for unruly behavior, truancy, substance abuse, unsafe housing or a parent’s incarceration, which are not considered abuse or neglect. Each year, about 150 children in foster care turn 18.

Sandra Hazlett, director of children and family policy within the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, defended the cut. She noted that Kansas was one of only a few states that kept children in foster care past their 18th birthday.

Also, she said, children in foster care who’ve not been abused or neglected are there by default.

“If they’re not at risk of being harmed or neglected, they should not be removed from their families,” Hazlett said.

“They should be at home.”

Efforts to keep children who’ve not been abused or neglected out of foster care are not new, Hazlett said, noting that “prevention money” has been available to communities throughout the state for several years.

Despite these efforts, she said, the system continues to accept these children rather than help them remain at home.

“We’re moving in the direction of shutting that door,” Hazlett said. “We need to do things differently.”

Hazlett plans to meet today with the state’s child advocates and with the nonprofit groups it pays to oversee foster care services throughout the state.

The governor’s proposal, Hazlett said, represents a “true cut” of $4 million. It does not call for spending the money on troubled children elsewhere in the budget.

Shepherd bristled at the notion of the state saving money by cutting services. “It’s just not going to happen,” she said. “You’re just going to see that much more of an increase in demand for mental health services and in kids winding up in the juvenile justice system.

“And why do we think there’s something magical about a child turning 18 and suddenly being self-sufficient?” she said. “It’s not unusual — because they’ve been moved around so much — to have an 18-year-old who’s a junior in high school. Do we really think they’re going to finish high school if they’re living on their own in an apartment someplace?”