KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas City, Kan., mental health center that was mostly shut down in 2011 for being understaffed and in violation of safety codes could get new life in a plan Gov. Sam Brownback announced this week.
Under the governor’s proposal, the state would enlist the help of private mental agencies to reopen the former 50-bed Rainbow Mental Health Facility as a 10-bed “crisis stabilization” facility to provide a temporary place for law enforcement to refer Kansans suffering from mental illness, The Topeka Capital-Journal (https://bit.ly/1fc1HSO) reported.
A representative of the Mental Health Coalition of Kansas said her organization is cautiously optimistic about the plan.
“As long as they continue to follow that path, we’re excited about what can be accomplished here,” said Amy Campbell, a spokeswoman for the coalition.
Under the plan, the Kansas Department for Aging Disability Services will contract with the Wyandot Center - a private mental health center in Kansas City - to administer services at Rainbow for $3.5 million per year for three years.
The rest of Rainbow’s $7 million operating budget will go to Osawatomie State Hospital. Brownback announced that 111 jobs previously located at Rainbow would be shifted to the Osawatomie center, which added 30 mental health beds in late 2011 after Rainbow was closed for repairs.
State Sen. Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican, said the reopened facility will provide a much-needed “port in the storm” for law enforcement. Peter Zevenbergen Jr., president and CEO of Wyandot Inc., said his organization is ready to fill that role.
“We want to get people in our jails who are suffering from mental illness into an appropriate treatment setting, and we want to get our law enforcement officers back on the street,” Zevenbergen said.
Shawn Sullivan, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging Disability Services, said the plan has bipartisan support from metro-area legislators.
“We believe the combined expertise of the two community mental health centers and Heartland RADAC will re-purpose Rainbow for services that are responsive to community needs with the potential of becoming a template for the rest of Kansas,” Sullivan said.
The reopened Rainbow facility also would have beds for drug and alcohol detoxification and triage, but only 10 of them will be for stays of more than 24 hours.
Many of the patients were transferred to Osawatomie in 2011 after federal surveyors and the state fire marshal in closed most of Rainbow.
“This is the most significant change we have made to the Kansas mental health system in two decades,” Brownback said. “Our goal is to establish and support alternative community programs that will decrease reliance on Osawatomie State Hospital and the unnecessary use of local emergency rooms, community hospitals and jails.”
___
Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, https://www.cjonline.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.