While KVC is a national leader in providing innovative, compassionate child welfare and behavioral health services, we are proud to be a Kansas-based organization. More than 1,000 of our team members are based in Kansas. Meet our two nonprofit subsidiaries with different areas of expertise:

KVC Kansas

KVC Kansas is a lead nonprofit agency with the Kansas Department for Children and Families, serving over 30,000 Kansas children and adults each year. We strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and help both children and adults achieve mental health wellness. KVC Kansas employs 445 professionals based at 10 locations across the state. Services include in-home family support, foster care case management, foster family recruitment and support, and outpatient behavioral healthcare. Linda Bass, PhD is President of KVC Kansas.

KVC Hospitals

KVC Hospitals is a nonprofit organization serving thousands of children and teens each year between ages 6 to 18 who are struggling with depression, anxiety, the impacts of trauma, suicidal ideation, and other behavioral and mental health challenges. Our team implements innovative, neuroscience-based treatment approaches at our children’s psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment centers serving Kansas and Missouri. KVC Hospitals is accredited by The Joint Commission, considered the gold standard in healthcare. Bobby Eklofe is President of KVC Hospitals.

See KVC Health Systems’ 2021 legislative priorities here.

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Recent Legislative Updates

We send a monthly email to Kansas state legislators when they’re in session. Check out past updates:

• • 2021 Session: April Update, March Update, February Update, January Update
  • 2020 Session: March Update, February Update, January Update (Links to the April & May 2020 updates are not currently available.)

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Legislative Spotlight

During each month of the legislative session, we recognize the outstanding elected officials who are working to strengthen Kansas children and families.

April 2021 Spotlight: Rep. Cindy Neighbor

This month’s legislator spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Cindy Neighbor (D-Shawnee), who represents District 18 in the Kansas House.

Rep. Neighbor has served the State of Kansas in the House of Representatives from 2003-04, 2007-2011, and now from 2017 through the present. She serves on the Children & Seniors Committee, Elections Committee, Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee and Select Investigating Committee. In 2021, she sponsored legislation to establish the office of the child advocate for children’s protection and services. Rep. Neighbor is a strong proponent of mental health services, additional funding for community mental health programs and doing everything she can do to reduce suicide rates in Kansas. She served as the former Vice-Char of the Board of Directors of the Johnson County Mental Health Board.

Rep. Neighbor has lived in Shawnee, KS for over 45 years. She spent most of her career as a medical administrator with a multi-specialty group serving Wyandotte and Johnson County. Additionally, she worked for Discover Dental and for many years in Shawnee Mission schools. She is a former Board Member of the Shawnee Mission School District, former President of the Kansas Association of School Boards and past Board Member of Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services. Rep. Neighbor has been active in numerous other committee groups and charitable organizations during her professional career including the Ronald McDonald House and United Community Services working on prevention of child abuse issues.

Rep. Neighbor has been married to her husband Jim, a retired airline pilot, for over 50 years. They have four grown children and four grandchildren.

Thank you to Rep. Neighbor for her strong support and leadership over many years for Kansas’ children and families and for the work she does each and every day for her constituents in Shawnee and the State of Kansas. Learn more here.

March 2021 Spotlight: Rep. Troy Waymaster

This month’s legislator spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Troy Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill), who represents District 109 in the Kansas House.

Rep. Waymaster is in his fifth term and has served the State of Kansas in the House of Representatives since 2013. He serves as the Chairman of the House Legislative Budget Committee and the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He prides himself as a fiscal watchdog of government dollars.

Rep. Waymaster is a native Kansan from Russell who graduated from Russell High School and from the University of Kansas with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science. He spent a lot of time growing up on a family farm and working with his father and uncle. Today, in addition to his legislative duties, he remains active in that same family farm in its farming operations. He spent over a decade in the banking and financial world. Rep. Waymaster has been active on various Board of Directors including the Russell Area Chamber of Commerce and the Russell Main Street Association.

Thank you to Rep. Waymaster for supporting Kansas children and families, for his hard work on the Budget and Appropriations Committees and for the work he does each and every day for his constituents and the State of Kansas. For more information on Rep. Waymaster, click here.

February 2021 Spotlight: Sen. Pat Pettey

This month’s legislator spotlight will shine a light on the work of Senator Pat Pettey (D-Kansas City), who represents District 6 in the Kansas Senate.

Sen. Pettey is in her third term and has served the state of Kansas in the Senate for eight years. She serves on the Education Committee, Ways and Means Committee and the Confirmation Oversight Committee. Additionally, she is a member of the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments and Benefits, Human Services Subcommittee, General Government Subcommittee, Corrections and Public Safety Subcommittee and the Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight. She believes Kansas should be a state where everyone feels accepted for who they are, where each Kansan has access to affordable health care and a quality public education system. Sen. Pettey believes in working across the aisle to find new solutions to problems.

Sen. Pettey graduated from Turner High School and the University of Kansas. She earned a bachelor of science and a master’s degree in education at KU, as well as an administration certificate from Emporia State University. She worked as an educator with the Turner School District and has served as member of Kansas House of Representatives in the 1990s. Sen. Pettey additionally has served as a member of the Unified Government Board of Commissioners and received the 2000 Oak Grove School Teacher of the Year Award and the League of Kansas Municipalities Excellence in Government Award. She has served as chairperson of the Homeless Continuum of Care and on the Mayors Council Against Domestic Violence, as well as on many other boards and committees. Sen. Pettey is a mother of two children and a grandmother to five grandchildren.

Thank you to Sen. Pettey for her hard work on behalf of her constituents, children and families and the state of Kansas for multiple years and decades.

For more information on Sen. Pettey click here.

January 2021 Spotlight: Rep. Susan Concannon

This month’s legislative spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Susan Concannon (R-Beloit), who represents District 107 in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Rep. Concannon is in her fifth term and serves as Chair of the Children and Seniors Committee. She has also served as the Chair of the Special Committee on Foster Care Oversight. Additionally, she is a member of the Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services, Taxation Committee and the Appropriations Committee. She has focused her efforts in the Kansas House on important children and families issues, local / small businesses, rural revitalization, education and health care.

Rep. Concannon is a lifelong Kansas resident who has lived in Beloit for over 25 years. She is the former executive director of a medical foundation in Mitchell County and has worked in philanthropy. Rep. Concannon has served on numerous boards, community advisory committees and is a Bethany College graduate. She has three children, multiple grandchildren and has been married for over 30 years to Dr. Craig Concannon.

Thank you to Rep. Concannon for her hard work on behalf of her constituents, children and families and the state of Kansas.

Learn more about Rep. Susan Concannon here.

May 2020 Spotlight: Sen. Rick Billinger

This month’s legislative spotlight will shine a light on the work of Senator Rick Billinger (R-Goodland) who represents District 40 in the Kansas Senate.

Sen. Billinger has assumed this office since 2017. Prior to 2017, he served two terms in the Kansas House of Representatives. Sen. Billinger currently serves on many Senate Committees and is the Chair of the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Chair of the Ways and Means Corrections Subcommittee and is the Chair of the Ways and Means Labor and Human Rights Subcommittee. He is the Vice-Chair of the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Vice-Chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

Sen. Billinger has served as the as Vice-Chair of the Rural Caucus, as well as the Chair of Kansas Legislative Policy Group for Western Kansas Caucus Legislators. Sen. Billinger supports policies that increase population growth to Western Kansas, cut down on red tape and regulatory burdens, reduce state debt, increase support for seniors and the disabled, strengthen schools and protect family farms. Sen. Billinger has served as an executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America and Kanza Bio Diesel.

Sen. Billinger is a life-long Kansan who has been married for over 40 years to his wife, Rita. He and his wife have three children and three grandchildren. Sen. Billinger is a retired businessman and farmer, who operated Billinger Farms, which he founded over 27 years ago in Western Kansas. In addition, Sen. Billinger served on the Goodland City Commission for 20 years, many of those years as Mayor.

Thank you to Sen. Billinger for his years of service and hard work on behalf of his constituents and the state of Kansas.

Learn more about Sen. Rick Billinger here.

April 2020 Spotlight: Rep. Barbara Ballard

This month’s legislative spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Barbara Ballard (D-Lawrence) who represents District 44 in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Rep. Ballard has assumed this office since 1993 and currently serves on the Appropriations Committee and Transportation Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight. Rep. Ballard serves as the Democratic Caucus Chair in the Kansas House and previously served as president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Rep. Ballard supports policies that address gender equality, due process rights, mental health importance, children and families and educational advancement.

Rep. Ballard has a BMed from Webster College and a MS and PhD from Kansas State University. She has worked in education much of her career, mostly with the University of Kansas as Dean of Students, Associate Vice-Chancellor, Director of the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center and a teacher in the School of Education and Department of Women’s Studies. She currently serves as Senior Associate Director for the Dole Institute of Politics. In addition, Rep. Ballard served on the Lawrence School Board before being elected to the Kansas House of Representatives.

Rep. Ballard is married and has one child. Rep. Ballard has been involved with community activities such as the Rotary Club, Bert Nash Community Health Center, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and Plymouth Congressional Church. She is a member of the Midwest Higher Education Compact, American College Personnel Association and Phi Delta Kappa Honorary Education Fraternity.

Thank you to Rep. Ballard for her many years of service and hard work on behalf of her constituents and the state of Kansas.

Learn more about Rep. Barbara Ballard here.

March 2020 Spotlight: Rep. Leonard Mastroni

This month’s legislative spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Leonard Mastroni (R-La Crosse) who represents District 117 in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Rep. Mastroni is in his second term and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Social Services Budget Committee. In addition, Rep. Mastroni serves on the Children and Seniors Committee and Financial Institutions and Pension Committee. Rep. Mastroni supports policies that address budget and school funding issues, as well as those that enhance critical infrastructure programs. He believes services to the elderly and other less fortunate citizens are essential in Kansas.

Rep. Mastroni has lived and worked in the 117th District for four decades. A graduate of Fort Hays State University, he served as an elected District Court Judge for 28 years. Rep. Mastroni also served six years as a County Commissioner before becoming a State Representative.

Rep. Mastroni is married to Linda Mastroni and the two have four children. Rep. Mastroni has been involved with community activities such as the Lion’s Club, Chamber of Commerce, 24th Judicial District Community Corrections Advisory Board and is a member of the First Christian Church in LaCrosse

Thank you to Rep. Mastroni for his hard work on behalf of his constituents and the state of Kansas.

For more information on Rep. Leonard Mastroni click here to visit his legislative profile.

February 2020 Spotlight: Rep. Monica Murnan

This month’s legislative spotlight will shine a light on the work of Representative Monica Murnan (D-Pittsburg) who represents District 3 in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Rep. Murnan is in her second term and serves as the Ranking Minority Member of the Health and Human Services Committee. In addition, Rep. Murnan serves on the Social Services Budget Committee, Rural Revitalization Committee and Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight. In 2019, she served on the Special Committee on Medicaid Expansion. Rep. Murnan supports policies that put children and families first, invest in education and allow access to health care.

In addition to her legislative duties, Rep. Murnan has built a career in Education Administration and currently serves as the Director of Student Support Services at the Southeast Kansas Education Service – Greenbush. She worked for 15 years as the Executive Director of the Family Resource Center focusing on early childhood education.

Rep. Murnan is a graduate of Pittsburg State University and has been married for 30 years to her husband, Rob. They have three daughters.

Thank you to Rep. Murnan for her hard work on behalf of her constituents and the state of Kansas.

For more information on Rep. Monica Murnan click here to visit her legislative profile.

January 2020 Spotlight: Rep. Megan Lynn

We’d like to shine a light on the work of Representative Megan Lynn (R-Olathe) who represents District 49 in the Kansas House of Representatives. Rep. Lynn is in her first term and serves on the Financial Institutions and Pensions Committee, Social Services Budget Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee. In 2019, she served on the Special Committee on Health. She is an advocate for strong local schools, fiscal accountability and a renewed focus on mental health.

Rep. Lynn has worked as a development biologist for eight years and currently serves as a Children’s Ministry Assistant at Olathe College Church of Nazarene. Rep. Lynn has been married for 15 years to her husband, Chad Lynn, and has three children.

Thank you to Rep. Lynn for her hard work on behalf of her constituents and the state of Kansas.

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Legislators Previously Featured:

April 2019: Rep. Susan Concannon
March 2019: Rep. Will Carpenter
February 2019: Rep. Jarrod Ousley
January 2019: Newly Elected Legislators
April 2018: Rep. Linda Gallagher
March 2018: Sen. Laura Kelly (Now Governor)
February 2018: Sen. Vicki Schmidt
January 2018: Child Welfare Task Force

If you have any questions or comments, we’d love to talk with you. Please contact Jenny Kutz who leads our Communications Team at (913) 322-4900 or jkutz@kvc.org.