Kansas to pay $2.2M in legal costs in child welfare lawsuit

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Kansas must pay more than $2.2 million in attorney fees to the groups that filed a lawsuit over problems in the child welfare system. The decision handed down Thursday also requires the state to pay more than $72,000 in expenses. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree approved a settlement to the lawsuit in January, but the parties had continued to wrangle over attorney fees and other legal expenses. The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Kansas Appleseed, Lori Burns-Bucklew, Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law against the Kansas Department for Children and Families and others.