Kansas loses $3.2 million paid to vendor after canceling contract for IT work

TOPEKA — Kansas paid nearly $3.2 million to a vendor to update an early childhood data system but was forced to terminate the contract after the vendor failed to meet performance standards. 

Legislative Post Audit Committee members questioned Janet Stanek, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, on Monday about where the “ball got dropped” after the agency cut ties with GL Solutions. 

KDHE began working on the Early Childhood Data Integration & System Enhancement with the Montana-based company in January 2024, according to an LPA audit done by IT audit manager Katrin Osterhaus. 

The computer system is used by KDHE and the Kansas Department for Children and Families to process childcare or foster care facility applications and renewals, record inspection results, license background check information, and collect related data, the audit said. 

The older system made it difficult to produce reports, caused slow processing of case management information and reduced customer service, the audit said. 

Work progressed well until the last quarter of 2025 and into January, when project work “deteriorated significantly,” the report said.

In February, KDHE sent a letter to GL Solutions attempting to remediate the issue by asking for more transparency in the change request process and asking for explanations for scheduled change requests, among other issues, the audit said. On April 13, KDHE terminated the contract, effective May 13.  

“What I’m trying to figure out is where the ball got dropped, because this is a pretty — it’s a major deal, and the state is not very good at monitoring these types of contracts,” said Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican. “In fact, we’re horrible at it. The businesses portion of the state is horrible at managing and holding vendors accountable for deliverables.”

Stanek said the major issue involved converting data from a 20-year-old system into a newer one. Initially, the process was progressing well, as Osterhaus tracked, she said. 

“Then as we got further into the conversion process and being able to tie the data together and see if it could convert over … that is when we started to realize there were issues that led to questions about the testing process,” Stanek said. 

GL Solutions and KDHE would fix one thing and then “more would break,” she said. 

The total project cost was $5.5 million, and most of the $3.2 million paid were funds from the federal government, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Stanek said. 

LPA members questioned Bob Doane, KDHE chief information officer, about why they selected GL Solutions and about the company’s history on projects like this one. 

Doane said that although GL Solutions had done similar projects, KDHE staff believed it had been converting from a paper system into a modern computerized system, rather than updating an older system. 

Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, pushed on whether KDHE might have a possible lawsuit against GL Solutions to recover some of the money spent. 

Stanek said KDHE’s chief legal counsel is researching its options. 

“Related to recouping the money, I don’t want to sound like it wasn’t taxpayer money, it was ARPA money, the majority,” she said. “It’s too bad, and we are cutting our losses and reusing what’s left of that, which is significant, to try to get a system in place that’s more stable.” 

The audit report said KDHE and DCF plan to use the remaining $2 million to stabilize the current system by updating servers and licenses, meeting compliance requirements and enhancing user experiences. 

“These funds were set to expire by November 30, 2026,” the report said. “Officials told us this played a role in their decision to terminate the contract.”  

Kansas Reflector requested comment on the contract from GL Solutions on Friday morning. As of publication, company officials had not responded.