By Roxie Hammill, Johnson County Post
Johnson County will soon have a 24-hour crisis stabilization center for adults who are experiencing mental health emergencies — a need county leaders say they have been trying to address for over a decade.
County commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved the addition of 18 staff positions for the center, which is expected to open in May.
The crisis center will provide a place where someone in a mental health emergency can receive treatment and an overnight stay, rather than being referred to a hospital emergency room or sent to jail, said county mental health center director Tim DeWeese during a preview of the request last week.
Expanded crisis facility will have 26 beds
The center was made possible by a major remodel of the county’s current facility in Shawnee, called The Recovery Place. For years, the county has sent adults in crisis to RSI, a 24/7 stabilization center in Wyandotte County. The Recovery Place also has been used for substance abuse detoxification and short-term (typically less than 24 hours) supervised care for individuals experiencing mental health crises.
The remodeling will open up more space at The Recovery Place, at 65th Street and Nieman Road, adding 14 new beds for crisis stabilization to the 12 beds there already for detox and crisis care, he said.
The expanded 26-bed facility will have a detox area in one wing and crisis stabilization in another wing for patients needing longer stays, with a basement area also now usable for intake and observation, DeWeese said.
Commissioners voted 6-0 to approve the additional staff, including a mental health clinician, a case manager, twelve behavioral health specialists, three nurses and one nursing supervisor. (Commissioner Shirley Allenbrand was absent.)
The positions will be funded through roughly $1.2 million in federal Medicaid dollars and will not require county tax support.
County has seen need for more mental health staff for years
Supporters in the mental health department said the center has long been needed because of the effects of the COVID pandemic on mental health.
Last year, the commission approved funding for 14.6 full-time equivalent positions for a youth crisis stabilization center in Olathe. But adults have often been directed to jail or emergency rooms, which can make their conditions worse, according to a staff memo.
Tanner Fortney, the county’s assistant mental health director, told the commission Thursday that mental health officials estimate that 350 to 400 people a year will use the facility to start, or one to two admissions per day.
He said the staffing level for the expanded center — 18 staff positions — is “frugal” and meets the state minimum requirements to staff male and female units, oversee patients’ overnight stays and monitor different levels of the building around the clock.
Fortney added that he did not know of immediate cutbacks planned for Medicaid funding, but the mental health department would look to cuts it could make within its budget if federal funding ebbs.
Commissioners welcomed the new center, even with the uncertainty over federal funding.
“This is something we can all be proud of,” said commission Chair Mike Kelly.
Medicaid support may be uncertain for now, he said, but “it should not stop us from doing what we know is right.”
What the public had to say
The move was praised by several members of the Good Faith Network, an interfaith nonprofit, who attended the meeting.
“Establishing this crisis stabilization center is not simply administrative business, it’s moral leadership,” said Jennifer Levinson of Overland Park.
“Choosing to establish this crisis stabilization center means choosing dignity, grace and healing over fear and neglect,” said Ali Haynes of Lenexa.
Overall, four public commenters spoke in favor of the added staffing.
Three commenters questioned the funding for the added staffers, raising concerns about how the success of the new center would be measured and whether federal funding under the Trump administration could be clawed back.
Ben Hobert of Westwood Hills said the amount of staffing appeared “wasteful.”
“Is there a need? Probably yes. But I don’t think you’ve quantified it sufficiently,” he said.
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