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After 17-year-old Cedric “CJ” Lofton died in law enforcement custody in September 2021, the community wanted answers. How did this happen? What went wrong? What could be changed to prevent such a thing from happening again?
A community task force of 23 members was convened to find those answers and make recommendations for systemic change. It met 13 times over three months before issuing a list of 61 recommendations in April of last year regarding what could be done to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Those recommendations are directed at five areas: the foster care system, Sedgwick County’s 911 emergency response and COMCARE, the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Department of Corrections and the Kansas Department of Corrections.
The Wichita Beacon has been following the task force’s update meetings to give an independent analysis of how the recommendations are being implemented. After a year, about one in four of the recommendations have been implemented; another 31 have seen progress while 14 have not.
Recent significant updates include:
- The implementation of a foster care bill of rights on the state-wide level. Language from the bill, named in honor of the late Rep. Gail Finney, was included in a broader child welfare bill, HB 2024, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Laura Kelly on April 19, 2023. The bill solidified protections given to youth in foster care. Previous work to pass these protections had stalled, including in the 2022 legislative session.
- More funding for COMCARE through grants, allowing the county’s mental health agency to expand their mobile mental health care teams from four units to seven. Previously, COMCARE reported that they would fall short of the recommendation to have these teams available 24/7, but thanks to additional grant money from the state COMCARE says it will be able to meet that standard recommended by the task force.
- Implementation of a new use-of-force policy by Sedgwick County Youth Corrections, which prohibits actions taken against Lofton such as holding someone down in a prone position. The policy also implements a requirement of recording when force has to be used.
Finally, as recommended by the task force, the Wichita Police Department (WPD) has been reviewed by an outside consulting agency hired by the city manager’s office. The report by Jensen Hughes stated that the culture at WPD needs improvement and racial bias “exists at a frequency that needs to be addressed but is not as ubiquitous as other problematic attitudes and behaviors described throughout this report.”
Measuring progress on the recommendations of the Cedric Lofton task force
The Wichita Beacon offers the following summary of these recommendations and its own subjective analysis as to the relative progress on each. We base our analysis on self-reported updates from the agency involved and cross-check them with the initial recommendations. We welcome any extra information that could be provided to us by agencies involved as we continue our analysis. It is important to note that progress on many recommendations may not be possible without funding support from lawmakers and taxpayers.
🟢 Green indicates an item is complete.
🟡 Yellow indicates ongoing work.
🔴 Red indicates no significant progress or a failure to implement.
➡️ Indicates a change in status has been made from our previous analysis.
The recommendations are divided into categories based on which organization or department was tasked with implementation.
Foster care
Sedgwick County 911 and COMCARE
Wichita Police Department (WPD)
Sedgwick County Youth Corrections
Kansas Department of Corrections
Foster care
The task force recommends:
1. Fully fund evidence-based prevention and early intervention programs for youth and families before youth are placed in the foster care system.
🟡Funding for evidence-based prevention programs in the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) budget was increased from $13 million to $20 million in the 2023 fiscal year. This money comes from state and federal sources. It is unclear whether this money will meet the goals of the task force’s recommendations. DCF is implementing a new program called “Four Questions” designed to keep children with their families.
2. Require foster care providers to have a local contact trained in mental health crisis response on call by phone 24/7 to help foster families find appropriate resources when faced with a mental health crisis. Additionally, the Department for Children and Families and local law enforcement should clarify jurisdiction issues so that someone with an identified mental crisis is not left at a nonmedical facility.
🟡 DCF self-labeled this as in progress. DCF has implemented a 24/7 crisis line, but jurisdiction issues are not resolved; meetings between DCF, WPD, and Sedgwick County have been underway.
3. Create an ecosystem that connects community resources, grassroots organizations, advocates, coaches, champions and others with the Kansas Department for Children and Families, law enforcement, Sedgwick County COMCARE, Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC), Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) and other systems that serve foster care children in a mental health crisis.
🟡 A multitude of boards exist to bring collaborators together. DCF has started to reach out to partners and a support group has been created to help with this process.
4. Formalize standard procedures so both a child placing agency and case management providers are legally responsible for the foster children in their care.
🔴 Both entities have guidelines that reflect their responsibilities for the well-being of children placed in foster care in Kansas. The guidelines are separate and not standardized.
5. Develop and implement standardized training for foster care, law enforcement, 911 and juvenile justice personnel to include topics on de-escalation, mental health first aid, adolescent brain development and destigmatization of mental health, as well as when and under what circumstances a youth can and should be transferred to a mental health treatment facility as opposed to detention.
🔴Though the various entities agree that such training is a good idea and available, no requirement of standardized training has been implemented.
6. Require foster families to complete a standardized program in adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and trauma-informed care that is culturally relevant and gender-responsive. If they don’t participate, they are disqualified from participating in the foster care program.
🔴An array of training is offered and available to foster care parents, including around adverse child experiences. But there is no requirement of culturally relevant and gender-responsive training.
7. Require foster care agencies to ensure employees, foster families and foster children receive benefits that include mental health and mindfulness coaches; and ensure staffing allows employees to utilize such benefits and take vacations without returning to a backload of cases.
🔴DCF has self labeled this as “not implemented” on the dashboard. There are already some services available and DCF has made no mention of expanding services.
8. Expand the Crossover Youth Practice Model for sharing data and system protocols between DCF, school districts and the juvenile justice system to allow those agencies to effectively serve the foster youth in their care.
🟡 DCF, Kansas Department of Corrections Juvenile Services (KDOCJS) and the state Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) are working with Georgetown University on bringing the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) to the entire state of Kansas. In Sedgwick County, DCF is testing to see how well crossover programs function. They have started an oversight team to review the process.
9. Support the passage of HB 2468 and HB 2469, which establish the foster youth and foster parent bill of rights and require distribution of the bill of rights to each foster youth and foster family; ask Sedgwick County to add HB 2468 and HB 2469 to its 2023 legislative agenda.
🔴➡️🟢DCF supported both bills in the 2022 legislative session but neither became law. The foster youth bill of rights passed in the 2023 legislative session with HB 2024 and was made available on their website.
10. Administer an assessment of the youth in the foster care system that allows root cause issues to be identified and a strategic plan to be developed that will address barriers and systemic issues.
🟡 Current efforts are underway with the Capacity Building Center for States in examining root causes related to placement instability for youth in foster care. DCF and case management providers are bringing this data and information to stakeholders.
11. The Department for Children and Families should design and disseminate a road map to assist foster families in accessing community services and support to aid in the care of youth in the foster care system.
🟡DCF has self-labeled this recommendation as “in progress.” Road maps were created to the Family Crisis Support Helpline and provided to foster care agencies and foster parents. Additionally, the 211 hotline in Sedgwick County provides information about other social support resources.
12. Support the enactment of SB 12, which requires DCF to develop an implementation plan for a set of performance-based contracts to provide an array of evidence-based prevention and early intervention services.
🟡SB 12 was approved by the House but did not pass the Senate. DCF completed a number of community conversations during the summer of 2022. All information gleaned from both Wichita meetings was forwarded to the central office and was put into a report to the Kansas State Legislature.
13. Extend a thank-you to foster families for the support and sacrifice they make in providing homes for children in need of care.
🟡 DCF self-labeled this as “in progress.” DCF reports that child-placing agencies regularly host events to show gratitude and thanks to foster parents for their commitment and care for children in Kansas.
14. Develop and implement a pre/post survey to evaluate satisfaction of families who participate in Family First and Family Preservation programs. Use feedback to enhance program and service delivery.
🔴➡️🟡DCF says it received feedback from families who participated.
Sedgwick County 911 and COMCARE
The task force recommends:
1. Develop an uninterrupted, 24/7 mobile mental health response system that can be dispatched by 911 through a combination of the following:
1a. Increase funding for COMCARE mobile response team to increase availability.
🟢COMCARE has filled all full-time positions dedicated to mobile crisis response, which includes three clinicians and two integrated care specialists.
1b. Increase funding for ICT-1 so they can be available 24/7. (ICT-1 is an emergency response team that includes a mental health professional, a law enforcement officer and a paramedic.)
🟡 The city of Wichita has dedicated funding for mental health staff. After additional funding from state programs, there are plans to have seven mobile mental health crisis teams available 24/7. Currently there are four teams. Hiring and training is underway.
1c. Develop and implement a new crisis response model that focuses on having a mental health and medical responder available for crisis calls, with a process in place to engage with law enforcement as appropriate.
🟢COMCARE created five integrated care specialist positions to answer calls from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which went live in July 2022. Additionally, one full-time mobile crisis clinician position was created to provide mobile response. Legislation was signed providing funding to support 988 demands. Sedgwick County COMCARE will be awarded $1,080,000 this year. The opportunity to call a mental health expert was already an option before this implementation but was not used by WPD the night Cedric Lofton was arrested.
2. Embed qualified mental health providers within the 911 system, following models from Texas and Colorado.
🟡COMCARE and Emergency Communications have partnered to start a pilot program for an embedded mental health worker in dispatch. Policies and procedures have been established, a job description created and the hiring process has begun. There has been extra delay due to a new dispatch system being implemented.
3. Add a continuing education coordinator to the 911 budget to train 911 employees to better screen callers, evaluate mental health needs and then transfer to COMCARE as appropriate.
🔴A new position is not being added due to “staffing and workforce deficiencies.” Dispatch states it will change one of its current positions to do this work as well but work has not started.
4. By December 2022, establish a community advisory board that reflects the diverse communities 911 serves. This advisory board should create plans for transparency and acknowledgement of board members’ conflicts of interest.
🟡➡️🔴 Work on this is delayed and did not meet the deadline.
5. Address the high staff turnover rates at 911 by continuing to improve pay; improve diversity in recruitment and hiring for 911 staff; and add benefits that focus on the wellness of 911 personnel.
🟡The County Commission approved a pay plan to enhance compensation for 911 personnel on Nov. 16, 2022. Diversity work is still not done, but there are talks to add additional compensation for workers who know multiple languages.
Wichita Police Department (WPD)
The task force recommends:
1. Increase funding for COMCARE mobile mental health unit and ICT-1 so they can be available 24/7 and dispatched by 911 as a resource that serves the community.
🟡 There are four mobile response teams comprising a clinician and an integrated care specialist who will be available to accompany WPD on calls or to respond on their own to 911 calls that do not warrant a law enforcement response. There is now funding to add three additional teams to meet the requirement of 24/7 availability.
2. Develop and implement standardized training for foster care, law enforcement, 911 and juvenile justice JIAC and JDF personnel, to include topics on de-escalation, mental health first aid, adolescent brain development and destigmatization of mental health, as well as when and under what circumstances a youth can and should be transferred to a mental health treatment facility as opposed to detention.
🔴 No action. WPD says this recommendation will be fulfilled through action by other departments (Foster Care #5 and Corrections #17) but those departments too have not shown progress in standardizing the training process.
3. Create an ecosystem that connects community resources, grassroots organizations, advocates, coaches, champions and others with the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), law enforcement, Sedgwick County COMCARE, Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) and Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) and other systems that serve foster care children in a mental health crisis.
🔴 No action. WPD has started CIT training but there is no mention of standardization with other departments. DCF has started to reach out to community partners for collaboration but there is no mention of WPD being actively involved in that process.
4. By 2023, create a centralized database at WPD of grassroots organizations as a resource for future collaborations. Additionally, the database will track what it is doing to address biases and build trust with marginalized groups throughout the community.
🟢Community response information is available on its website. The grassroots organization list can be found here.
5. Hire three full-time and three part-time qualified mental health professionals to be on staff to support WPD employees.
🔴 WPD reports it will utilize existing in-house social workers to implement this and not make any additional hires.
6. Require mandatory trauma-informed training for law enforcement to better understand and serve all members of the community — but especially those from minority, underserved and at-risk populations.
🟡WPD reports that all recruits in the past five years receive such training. Existing officers receive refresher courses “after a few years” and detectives receive a five-day class. Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center is working to implement this training in curriculum at the state level.
7. Require crisis intervention training (CIT) for all law enforcement supervisors and for all law enforcement officers between their third and fifth year in the field. Officers who are between one and two years of service should be required to attend continuing mental health education to ensure officers remain up to date on mental health practices and changes.
🟡This training is offered once a year but WPD previously reported “a challenge with scheduling” and lack of capacity to provide everyone the training. The state may provide support. Three officers have completed CIT instructor training and two more are expected to complete the training.
8. Create a culture at WPD that lives up to the expectations to “protect and serve” all people in Wichita’s diverse community. Conduct an annual review of employee expectations and policies to identify ineffective processes and unacceptable behaviors. This recommendation directs special attention be paid to racist text messages sent/received by several members of the police department.
🟡➡️🔴An external review by Jensen Hughes has been finished and found the culture problematic. The survey reports that racial bias “exists at a frequency that needs to be addressed but is not as ubiquitous as other problematic attitudes and behaviors described throughout this report.”
9. Require officers to leave body cameras on throughout an entire incident, including the completion of paperwork. Additionally, a process should be developed for random review of footage as a part of the officers’ periodic coaching and annual performance evaluation.
🔴 No requirement for leaving body cameras on has been implemented. WPD says it will implement random reviews of body footage but will not require the camera be left on due to battery limitations.
10. Require training related to mental health, trauma, cultural and gender diversity and implicit bias be required at regular intervals for all law enforcement and juvenile corrections personnel.
🟡 WPD reports that annual bias training is required, but in its response does not mention whether that covers mental health, trauma or gender diversity specifically.
11. Foster a culture at WPD that allows exceptions to police protocols so an officer can escalate above the supervisor’s order when responding to calls involving foster youth in a mental health crisis. This is needed due to the complexities of multiple jurisdictions and custodies involved when a child is in the foster care system.
🔴➡️🟡WPD initially said they would not be moving forward with the recommendation, but at the one-year meeting they stated they have improved policy to make reporting unlawful orders easier.
12. Develop and implement a memorandum of understanding between the Wichita Police Department and Juvenile Intake Assessment Center (JIAC) that honors the 2016 U.S. attorney general opinion and clearly outlines that arrest reports must be completed before a youth is released to JIAC. The arrest report should include all details from the original classification of the call from dispatch to final classification of the call when the youth arrives at JIAC, all expectations for youth brought to the facility, transfers, arrest reports, officer release form, etc.
🟢Memorandum of understanding is written and signed by the WPD and the county (JIAC).
13. Ongoing implicit bias training and testing that includes, race, culture and gender diversity for all law enforcement officers and supervisors.
🟡 WPD reports that annual bias training is required, but its response does not mention testing or whether training covers mental health, trauma or gender diversity specifically.
14. Expand community support specialists at WPD.
🔴 At a previous task force meeting, WPD stated this would require additional funding. There has been no update given on the progress since.
Sedgwick County Youth Corrections
The task force recommends:
1. Update by July 1, 2022, the use-of-force policy for the Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center so it states: “Once youth is secured in a cell, instead of holding him/her down in the prone position, close the cell and allow the youth to calm down. Do not use any position that covers the youth’s chest. Only allow the prone position to be used to cuff and sit or cuff and stand. One staff person is responsible for video/audio recording any incidents of restraint, keeping time to ensure a youth is sitting or standing immediately after cuffing/restraining, and the youth is in overall good health and wellbeing. This person would also be observing employees and in charge of ‘tapping out’ anyone who appears to have reached his or her physical, mental, or emotional limit when working with a youth. This person should never assist in restraining the youth.”
🟡➡️🟢Sedgwick County reports that it updated the policy and it has been approved by the Sedgwick County commissioners and by the Kansas Department of Corrections.
2. Increase Sedgwick County funding to the Juvenile Detention Facility to provide for core mental health services that support JIAC rather than depend on grant funds at the local level.
🟢County indicates this is complete.
3. Require a nursing staff person to be present at JIAC/Juvenile Detention Facility 24/7.
🟢County indicates this is complete.
4. Establish a long-term goal for the Kansas Department of Corrections to move juvenile justice systems to a restorative justice system.
🔴➡️🟡 Sedgwick County states they support the move. Some restorative justice practices have started to be implemented, including adding an “honor pod” that allows kids in JDF to be rewarded more easily.
5. Support the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition’s legislative agenda to increase the number of mental health professionals in Sedgwick County.
🟡 Sedgwick County states they support increasing the number of mental health professionals and has included it in their legislative agenda.
6. Request a legislative post-audit to examine the implications of the “stand your ground” laws, particularly as they relate to incidents involving law enforcement.
🔴 Sedgwick County states this is ongoing. In their legislative agenda, they do not specifically support an examination of “stand your ground” laws.
7. Ensure the Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) and the Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) provide trauma care services for youth who experience a traumatic, crisis event while at JIAC or JDF. Services could be delivered on-site as well as in the community once a child is released.
🟢Services included in JDF medical contract effective Aug. 25, 2022. A federal Bureau of Justice Assistance grant will provide for aftercare services.
8. Require crisis intervention training for JIAC and JDF personnel.
🟡 Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office planned to offer this training for residential staff members and field services staff members beginning in September 2022. There is no mention of whether it was required.
9. Create a database at JIAC that identifies grassroots organizations serving youth impacted by the youth correction systems. Organizations listed in the database will be engaged and provided with technical assistance to apply for grant funds to see that culturally relevant gender- and trauma-based programs are available for youth.
🟢Started and ongoing.
10. Establish a “calming room” at JIAC that could be safe for youth experiencing some form of distress, where they can be safely left alone and not restrained.
🟢Completed and in use.
11. Prioritize in the county’s upcoming Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) updates for the video recording system at JIAC to cover more areas of the lobby and holding rooms, and a recording system that includes audio capacity.
🟡 Unforeseen problems with improving the video system have delayed the process. The county is currently working with a sound engineer to try and find a solution to audio recording issues. Monday has been set aside already to complete the project.
12. Support expansion of the statewide Crossover Youth Practice model implementation to every judicial district in Kansas and develop local protocols to serve youth involved in child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
🟡Sedgwick County states that this is ongoing.
13. Create and staff a citizens review board for JIAC and JDF, with quasi-judicial powers.
🔴 The county stated that they will not be moving forward to implement this review board because, according to them, they do not have the power to put one in place.
14. Implement ongoing implicit bias training and testing that includes race, culture and gender diversity for all JIAC and JDF personnel.
🟢County indicated this complete. Schedule for first-quarter training in 2023 has been completed and there are plans for further training.
15. Ensure reliable service for remote/virtual access to mental health consults at JIAC and JDF from COMCARE or another mental health provider. The providers need to be available 24/7.
🟢County indicates this is complete.
16. Update the language of the JIAC medical criteria for admission form 8.804 so it requires current and accurate information prior to transfer.
🟢County indicates this is complete.
17. Require all training related to mental health, trauma, cultural and gender diversity and implicit bias be required at regular intervals for all law enforcement, JIAC and JDF personnel.
🔴➡️🟡 County states they are receiving training on an ongoing basis through a new partnership with WSU. There is still no mention if this is required for all staff or just voluntary.
18. Develop and implement a memorandum of understanding between the Wichita Police Department and Juvenile Intake Assessment Center (JIAC) that honors the 2016 U.S. attorney general opinion and clearly outlines that the arrest report must be completed before youth is released to JIAC. The arrest report should include all details from the original classification of the call from dispatch to final classification of the call when the youth arrives at JIAC, all expectations for youth brought to the facility, transfers, arrest reports, officer release form, etc.
🟢Included in WPD memorandum of understanding.
19. Require law enforcement officers who bring an allegedly combative, noncompliant youth into the JIAC to stay on scene, or nearby, until the juvenile is processed.
🟡 County says this has been agreed upon in the MOU. It is unclear whether training has been completed.
20. Strive for parity in programs for those impacted by the youth corrections systems, through intentional engagement and funding of culturally competent and gender responsive programming.
🟡Contracting with Wichita State University for research in this area.
21. Not allowing a juvenile in a wrap restraint to be brought into the JIAC facility.
🟢County indicates this is complete.
22. Don’t allow a single JIAC worker to handle intake for someone described as “a combative juvenile.”
🟡 County says this has been agreed upon in the MOU. It is unclear whether training has been completed.
23. Ensure all juveniles at JIAC are separated from one another (taken to another room), so they are not exposed to potentially traumatic events in the common areas.
🟡 County indicates this is complete but has not indicated that training has been completed.
24. Strengthen the Individual Justice Plan process used in different organizations throughout Sedgwick County.
🟡County workgroup reviewing processes. All noted agencies have started to meet. WSU has started to help with the plan and bring together community stakeholders.
25. Using Team Justice, Sedgwick County’s juvenile corrections advisory board, as a vehicle to gain community volunteers for the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM), which seeks to reduce the number of youth interacting with both the foster care system and the juvenile justice system.
🟡County is relying on Wichita State University consultants to identify volunteers for the CYPM. Processes have started and are moving forward.
Kansas Department of Corrections
Establishing a long-term goal for the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) to develop and implement a strategy that moves juvenile justice systems to a restorative justice system.
🔴KDOC says it supports the concepts of restorative justice but leaves it to local communities to set their own priorities. The department pledges to partner with national experts on restorative justice and evaluate the need for assessment of current practice and/or policy/standards.
