TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The new leaders of the Kansas Department for Children and Families are considering whether to fill the agency's ombudsman position or to find new ways to address foster parents' frustrations.

Since 2014, families or others with questions or complaints about the department could contact the ombudsman for help, but some advocates for children criticized the position and others questioned whether a department employee could be independent enough to hold the agency accountable.

New leaders at the DCF are expanding a team that responds to foster families and others, and that tea...