"This funding is a game-changer for our ability to effectively help Kansas youth in the justice system," said Megan Milner, KDOC Deputy Secretary. "By identifying and addressing mental health and substance use needs early, we are providing a pathway for young people to receive the support they need to avoid future system involvement. For many detention centers, this is the first time they have had the capacity to offer these essential services".

This grant program utilizes the state’s Evidence-Based Programs fund to improve services in Kansas’ nine locally operated juvenile detention centers. Assessments conducted since the grants were implemented in 2023 have revealed a critical need: over 80% of youth admitted to a detention center have mental health or substance use disorders. The grants are directly addressing this by funding timely assessments, case management, and behavioral health services.

 “These grants provide crucial funding to address the needs that may be influencing a youth’s behavior in the community, thus resulting in them coming to the attention of the justice system. By getting them connected to services as early as possible, we can provide a structure of support for the youth and their family to hopefully change their trajectory in the juvenile justice system”, said Steve Stonehouse, Sedgwick County Director of Corrections.

The KDOC is responsible for the adult and juvenile correctional systems in the state, ensuring a safe and secure environment while providing opportunities for offenders to become productive members of society upon release.

Recognizing the need for early identification and intervention of youth and families crossing over between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, the Kansas Department of Corrections – Juvenile Services (KDOC-JS) entered into a contract with Georgetown University’s Center for Youth Justice (CYJ), previously known as the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) to implement the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM). KDOC-JS has partnered with the Department for Children and Families (DCF) and the Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) on CYPM implementation in two Kansas pilot sites, with goals of expanding the work to other areas of the state.

“In 2010, CJJR developed the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) to address the unique needs of youth that are at risk of or are fluctuating between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These youth are commonly referred to as “crossover youth.”

To view the Kansas Department for Children and Families' Crossover Youth information, click here. 

The Crossover Youth Practice Model is a nexus between research and best practices that outlines systemic changes youth serving systems can make to improve their ability to serve youth.

The CYPM has four overarching goals:

• Reduction in the number of youth crossing over and becoming dually-involved;
• Reduction in the number of youth placed in out-of-home care;
• Reduction in the use of congregate care; and
• Reduction in the disproportionate representation of youth of color, particularly in the crossover population”

To learn more about the CYPM, please visit Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at https://cjjr.georgetown.edu/our-work/crossover-youth-practice-model/.

CYPM TOOLKIT

The Toolkit provides an introduction to the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM). It includes how CYPM was originated, processes for local infrastructure to support cross-system work, how to identify and meet training needs, developing a cross-system case management process, and an over view of how court structure and judicial systems can be involved. The Toolkit is meant to assist counties in Kansas with creating their own version of the CYPM. Information contained in the toolkit is based on facilitated work completed by the Crossover Youth State Policy Team and the counties that have implemented CYPM (i.e., Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Montgomery counties), but is intended to be general enough that any community in Kansas can interpret and enact the stated principles in a manner that best suits the jurisdiction. To access the Toolkit click here.   

KJCC and Foster Care Provider Protocols

State Policy Team

The State Policy team (SPT) is a multi-system and multi-agency collaboration at the state level used to identify and remove barriers and to address obstacles encountered by crossover youth and their families.

State Policy Team Resources 

State Policy Team Upcoming Meetings

The CYPM State Policy Team meets each quarter (January, April, July, October) on the 3rd Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Join the meeting via Zoom link below:

https://kscourts.zoomgov.com/j/1603632275?pwd=0MXZgmdS5uZXBSO8bVJeauhAiY0jj5.1

Meeting ID: 160 363 2275

Passcode: 123

State Policy Team Meeting Summaries

2025 Annual Report, Office of the Child Advocate

OCA.1.21.26 Crossover Youth State Policy Team

SPT Summary 012126

MCO Manager Presentation 012026

CYPM State Policy Team Members

PLEASE NOTE: COLD CASE PLAYING CARDS have been distributed to all Correctional Facilities. They are not currently available for the general public to purchase. Those eligible to purchase through Kansas Correctional Industries can do so at https://kansasci.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=10534.

_______________________________________________

• April 25, 2022 Media Release
• Background/Development

2022 Cold Case Playing Cards (pdf)

Other states have solved multiple cold case homicides, missing person cases or suspicious deaths through the use of specially created playing cards.  Distributed to residents of state correctional facilities and county jails, these cards highlight case information in hope that persons familiar with a case will come forward with a fruitful tip.

As an example, Connecticut has produced multiple decks and has solved 20 cases with their program. For more information about Connecticut’s program, visit their website by clicking here.

For more information about the project in Kansas, please email KDOC_Cold_Case_Cards@ks.gov.

If you have any information regarding a Kansas Cold Case, please call 1-800-KS-CRIME.

Resources and Links:

KDOC Office of Victim Services - Office of Victim Services — (ks.gov)

KBI Victims Assistance - KBI - Kansas Bureau of Investigation - Law Enforcement Victims Assistance Program

AG’s Victim Services Division - Victim Services - Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt

Crime Victims Compensation - Victim Compensation - Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt

Remembrance Receptions - Crime Victims Remembrance Recptions - Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt

KBI Unsolved Cases - KBI - Kansas Bureau of Investigation - Governor's Reward

Kansas Missing and Unsolved - Kansas Missing & Unsolved - Home | Facebook

CrimeStoppers

            Wichita - Crime Stoppers of Wichita - Sedgwick County (wichitasedgwickcountycrimestoppers.com)

Media coverage:

Detectives looking for help before cold case grows colder (kwch.com)

FF12 Investigation: Detectives believe murdered restaurant owner knew his killer (kwch.com)

Police have suspect in 2013 cold-case murder (kwch.com)

Playing cards are a new strategy in solving cold cases in Kansas

Podcasts:

 8/11/2022

Dealing Justice – Joshua Jernagin

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/4-of-hearts-joshua-jernagin-ks-deck/id1504742935?i=1000575837452

7/15/2022

Dealing Justice – Ernie Ortiz

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-of-hearts-ernie-ortiz-ks-deck/id1504742935?i=1000569975929

6/13/2022

Dealing Justice – Gary Leo Nelson

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-of-spades-gary-leo-nelson-ks-deck/id1504742935?i=1000568393131

 News stories:

8/28/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Glenna Bullard

https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/29/kansas-cold-cases-glenna-bullard/

 8/14/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Anna Marie Baldwin

https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/15/kansas-cold-cases-anna-marie-baldwin/

 8/8/2022

Families of Kansas’ cold case victims find new hope for answers from an unexpected source — the state’s prisoners

https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/families-of-kansas-cold-case-victims-find-new-hope-for-answers-from-an-unexpected-source-the-states-prisoners/

 7/31/2022

https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/01/kansas-cold-cases-margaret-tighe/

 7/17/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Nelson Jones

https://www.wibw.com/2022/07/18/kansas-cold-cases-nelson-jones/

 7/10/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Carla Avery, Eric Avery, Tamesha Lee, Marvin Woods

https://www.wibw.com/2022/07/11/kansas-cold-case-carla-avery-eric-avery-tamesha-lee-marvin-woods/

 7/3/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Tirell Ocobock

https://www.wibw.com/2022/07/04/kansas-cold-cases-tirell-ocobock/

 6/13/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: James Winston III

https://www.wibw.com/2022/06/13/kansas-cold-cases-james-winston-iii/

 6/6/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Charles Giles

https://www.wibw.com/2022/06/06/kansas-cold-cases-charles-giles/

5/31/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Gary Leo Nelson

https://www.wibw.com/2022/05/30/kansas-cold-cases-gary-leo-nelson/

 5/27/2022

Cold case project renews hope for family of Beloit murder victim

Cold case project renews hope for family of Beloit murder victim (kwch.com)

 5/24/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Arthur Goebel

https://www.wibw.com/2022/05/23/kansas-cold-cases-arthur-goebel/

 5/17/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Clarence “Butch” Lavin

https://www.wibw.com/2022/05/16/kansas-cold-cases-clarence-butch-lavin/

 5/9/2022

Kansas Cold Cases: Joshua Jernagin

https://www.wibw.com/2022/05/09/kansas-cold-cases-joshua-jernagin/

 5/2/2022

KS Cold Cases: John Waller

https://www.wibw.com/2022/05/02/ks-cold-cases-john-waller/

 4/28/2022

Tirell Ocobock and John Waller homicides spotlighted in playing cards being given to Kansas inmates

https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/2022/04/28/kansas-cold-cases-inmate-playing-cards-tirell-ocobock-john-waller/7446543001/

4/27/2022

Kan. LE issue cold case playing cards to inmates to generate new leads

https://www.police1.com/investigations/articles/kan-le-issue-cold-case-playing-cards-to-inmates-to-generate-new-leads-FlmrzAy0C2twGxQf/

• Kansas detectives hope playing cards help solve dozens of cold cases

https://www.kwch.com/2022/04/25/kansas-detectives-hope-deck-playing-cards-can-help-solve-dozens-cold-cases/

• Department of Corrections, KBI announce new Cold Case playing card set

https://kvoe.com/2022/04/25/department-of-corrections-kbi-announce-new-cold-case-playing-card-set/

• Playing cards give Kansas prison inmates a chance to help solve cold cases. Here’s how

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article260740007.html

4/25/2022

1. Effort aims to heat up cold cases with playing cards for prisoners

https://www.wibw.com/2022/04/25/effort-aims-heat-up-cold-cases-with-playing-cards-prisoners/

1. Kansas detectives hope a deck of playing cards can help solve dozens of cold cases

https://www.kwch.com/2022/04/25/kansas-detectives-hope-deck-playing-cards-can-help-solve-dozens-cold-cases/

1. Former police officer, daughter of murder victim finds hope in new effort to solve cold cases

https://www.kwch.com/2022/04/25/police-officer-daughter-murder-victim-finds-hope-new-effort-solve-cold-cases/

1. Shawnee Co. cold case investigators hopeful for prison playing cards program

https://www.wibw.com/2022/04/26/shawnee-co-cold-case-investigators-hopeful-prison-playing-cards-program/