Lawmakers tasked with examining the state’s foster care system voted Monday to recommend family structures be taken into account in child placement decisions.

The move by the Foster Care Adequacy Committee drew a rebuke from Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, who said the move appeared to call for discrimination.

"I can’t not say something," Kelly said. "This just seems like a blatant attempt to discriminate against same-sex couples."

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, who proposed the call for the use of peer-reviewed evidence on family structures in foster care decisions, said family structure is important.

The committee chairman, Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, agreed and rejected worries the recommendation amounts to discrimination.

"Let’s worry about the kids here," Knox said. "Let’s not worry about discriminating against foster parents. Let’s worry about meeting the needs of kids and pick the best homes for the kids."

The Department for Children and Families has come under fire this fall after several gay and lesbian couples said they had been discriminated against by the agency.

The meeting Monday followed a previous meeting of the committee in November, when lawmakers dove into whether gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to serve as foster parents, with Pilcher-Cook saying at the time "political correctness" had entered the debate.

The November meeting featured testimony from the Rev. Donald Paul Sullins, a professor at the Catholic University of America. Sullins argued that children who are fostered or adopted by gay and lesbian couples are more likely to suffer a host of negative outcomes — from behavioral issues to being sexually abused.

Knox said there are studies that examine family structure. And he indicated race and geography are already taken into account in foster care decisions.

"We try to place black children in black homes. I’ve always been told that, I don’t know that happens all the time. And we try to keep them in the same community, we try to keep them in the same school district and I think these are probably good things," Knox said.

Though much of the disagreement during the meeting stemmed over whether to include family structure considerations in the report, lawmakers also approved recommending to set up an oversight committee for foster care, perhaps similar to the joint committee that oversees KanCare.

Rep. Erin Davis, R-Olathe, said the need for changes in the foster care system goes beyond looking at family structures. She criticized the current system for appearing to place profits over the best interest of children.

"This issue is so far and so deep and it goes much further than a family structure," Davis said.

"It goes to what are we working towards. Are we working towards children who go into foster care and come out at the end as productive members of society or are we looking at trying to make the most bang for the buck for the contractors. And unfortunately, as we sit today, the evidence I’ve seen points to the latter rather than the former."

Kelly proposed calling on the Legislative Post Audit Committee to approve an audit of the foster care system. She later withdrew her motion after Pilcher-Cook raised an objection to making recommendations to another legislative committee.

The Legislative Post Audit Committee heard an audit request in December to examine whether DCF discriminates against same-sex couples. The committee didn’t approve the audit, but likely will consider a proposal for a broader audit of foster care this month.