Topeka, KS– Governor Laura Kelly today announced that Kansas has received more than $12.6 million to help 13 community mental health centers (CMHC) qualify as certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHC), which offer a more comprehensive array of services.
These funds will help Kansas CMHCs offer new services such as substance use disorder treatments, integrate behavioral health care with physical health care, and support employment.
“With this funding, we are helping more of our fellow Kansans – including our veterans – access the mental health treatment they need,” Governor Kelly said. “By transitioning community mental health centers to an improved model of service, we will be better able to ensure our friends and neighbors have the tools they need to succeed.”
Kansas was awarded the fifth highest total dollar amount in the country in this grant funding cycle provided through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The grants are part of SAMHSA’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic–Planning, Development, and Implementation (CCBHC-PDI) grant program.
To qualify as a CCBHC, mental health centers must provide the following services: (1) crisis mental health services; (2) mental health screening, assessment, and diagnosis; (3) outpatient mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment; (4) person-centered treatment planning; (5) primary care screening and monitoring of key health indicators; (6) targeted case management; (7) psychiatric rehabilitation; (8) peer support; and (9) intensive services for members of the armed forces and veterans.
“We are extremely appreciative of Governor Kelly’s support of the CCBHC model in Kansas,” Andy Brown, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services’ Behavioral Health Services Commissioner, said. “These grants are a huge step forward for the centers receiving them to further expand access and availability of services across the state and provide a clear path forward for those CMHCs ready and able to transition to the model fully support by Governor Kelly and the legislature.”
Funding through the grant period from September 30, 2022, to September 29, 2026, is allocated to three CMHCs to enhance and expand already existing CCBHC services:
- Central Kansas Mental Health Center (Salina) – $1 million
- COMCARE (Wichita) – $1 million
- Wyandot Center for Community Behavioral Healthcare (Kansas City, Kan.) – $999,918
Ten CMHCs will receive funding during the same grant period to prepare for CCBHC certification through the expansion of services, training, and center development:
- Crawford County Mental Health Center (Pittsburg) – $1 million
- Elizabeth Layton Center, Inc. (Paola) – $988,841
- Family Service and Guidance Center of Topeka (Topeka) – $999,954
- Iroquois Center for Human Development (Greensburg) – $1 million
- Labette Center for Mental Health Services, Inc. (Parsons) – $998,840
- Prairie View, Inc. (Newton) – $992,844
- Southwest Guidance Center (Liberal) – $1 million
- Spring River Mental Health and Wellness, Inc. (Riverton) – $955,314
- The Guidance Center (Leavenworth) – $1 million
- Valeo Behavioral Health Care (Topeka) – $722,885
“The CCBHC grants we are receiving from the federal government will help us build additional infrastructure for the mental health safety net in Kansas,” Kyle Kessler, Executive Director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, said. “Any resources that go toward or CCBHC investment just solidify the work done by community mental health centers and our partners in the executive and legislative branches of government and support our state designed system.”
