KDADS and Family Service & Guidance Center Team Up to Provide Crisis Treatment for Families

TOPEKA – Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Laura Howard announced today the agency’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Commission has entered into an agreement with Family Service & Guidance Center (FSGC) of Topeka, Inc. to provide immediate crisis services to families and youth with emergency mental health issues.

“We are always looking to engage community partners and provide families a more stable, long-term solution to mental health and substance use treatment,” Secretary Howard said. “This agreement raises the bar and allows us to move forward with the goal of providing immediate access to care in a safe, therapeutic environment and we believe our work with Family Service & Guidance Center is significant in reaching the program goals and outcomes we have set.”

KDADS has awarded FSGC $312,500 over the next 15 months with potential for yearly funding extensions using monies from Lottery Vending Machine revenue. FSGC will use the funds to address three identified needs as outlined in the agreement:

• To expand the capacity of FSGC’s Crisis Recovery Program for the stabilization of youth and families throughout the state of Kansas for youth aged 5-17, in a therapeutic environment setting, that require an immediate or intermediate episode of care for a maximum of 28 days for the resolution of psychological and substance use symptoms and impairment and/or until the family rupture involving the youth can be re-stabilized.
• To create a program that is strategically designed for a vulnerable population that incorporates a flexible, yet safe, design scheme that will allow for the ability to scale the program and operations in an effective and cost-efficient manner.
• Recruit and retain a workforce that is cross trained to treat youth and families that may seek our services for a variety of crisis situations, including substance use disorders.

The specific counties served through this grant include Shawnee, Douglas, Jackson, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley and Wabaunsee. The agreement also provides for services to youth from other counties when warranted, so no exceptions to service are made based only on location.

KDADS and the Kansas Department of Children and Families recognize the need for these crisis services to prevent and mitigate family disruption and the placement of children and youth into residential treatment facilities or foster care due to a behavioral health crisis.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to implement a program we feel will be effective in reducing the demand for admission of children and youth to private psychiatric hospitals or PRTFs by addressing the need for crisis stabilization in this population.” Commissioner Andy Brown said. “Combined with DCF’s initiative for Mobile Crisis Response services, we are expecting positive results for many youths. This program offers a real opportunity to demonstrate a regional solution that broadens the system of care and creates new access points for families in need of help.”

“Our mission at FSGC is to provide high quality behavioral health services to children and families, and we are deeply appreciative of the support from KDADS so we can further our mission,” said Brenda Mills, CEO of Family Service & Guidance Center. “The number of children struggling with mental health and substance use disorders is alarming, and it continues to grow. Expanding our crisis program will help meet this challenge by allowing us to implement a more comprehensive program tailored to meet these pressing needs.”

About Family Service & Guidance Center

Family Service & Guidance Center (FSGC) is a nonprofit community mental health center that specializes in meeting children’s unique needs. For more than 115 years, they have provided direct clinical services, prevention education and outreach to nearly 12,000 children, adolescents and families from 38 Kansas counties annually. Today, FSGC is an innovator and recognized leader in children’s mental health services.

Governor Laura Kelly Announces Expansion of Low-Income Energy Assistance Program

~ DCF to extend LIEAP deadline and expand income limits to help Kansans~

TOPEKA – As part of her continuing efforts to help Kansans navigate high utility bills due to the recent arctic weather, Governor Laura Kelly announced today that she is expanding the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP). The program provides an annual benefit to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. LIEAP primarily assists persons with disabilities, older adults, and families with children.

“We know that many people face higher than normal energy bills because of the unprecedented winter weather in February,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “Today, I am announcing further steps that will allow more Kansans to take advantage of the LIEAP program to pay their utility bills. My administration will remain in communication with our federal and local partners to protect Kansans from the impacts of extreme cold temperatures.”

Effective immediately, the Kansas Department for Children and Families is extending the application deadline for LIEAP to May 28. Additionally, the agency is expanding the income requirements from 130% of the federal poverty level to 150%. DCF also will review all previously denied applications during the 2021 LIEAP program year. Any cases that now qualify under the new income threshold and meet other eligibility criteria will receive the benefit.

To qualify for the program, applicants must be responsible for direct payment of their heating bills. The level of benefit varies according to household income, number of people living in the home, type of residence, type of heating fuel, and utility rates.

Applicants need to have made payments on their heating bill two out of the last three months. Those payments must be equal to or exceed $80 or the total balance due on their energy bills, whichever is less.

LIEAP applications are available at local DCF offices and through partnering agencies. They can be requested by calling 1-800-432-0043. To apply online, visit https://cssp.kees.ks.gov/apspssp/sspNonMed.portal. For more information, visit http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/EnergyAssistance.aspx.

Income eligibility determination:  ​

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Governor Laura Kelly’s Council on Tax Reform Discusses Current Legislation & Federal Recovery Funds

TOPEKA – On March 5, Governor Kelly’s Council on Tax Reform discussed the fiscal implications of tax legislation being debated in the Kansas Statehouse and recommended caution regarding how federal COVID-19 recovery funds are earmarked and spent.

“As we continue to recover from the pandemic, the last thing Kansas needs is another fiscally irresponsible tax experiment,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “My administration continues to prioritize pragmatic, strategic solutions to reinvest in our state’s foundation and strengthen our economy statewide.”

A Division of Budget presentation showed that Governor Laura Kelly’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 Budget featured a positive ending balance of $600 million. At Senate Minority Leader Sykes’ request, legislative research provided a State General Fund profile that showed what the current “Senate position” would do to the ending balance. This profile includes the significant negative impact of SB 22 as it passed the Senate on February 9th, along with no enactment of Governor Kelly’s recommendations closing sales tax loopholes or Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) reamortization. Even without the spending that has been added above what was recommended in the Governor’s Budget Report, SB 22 and these other policies would put Kansas in the red ink by more than $100 million by next year. That type of structurally unbalanced budget is similar to what Kansas lawmakers grappled with during the 2012-2017 legislative sessions.

Council Actions and Recommendations

The Council unanimously voted to urge Governor Kelly and the legislature to consider a more prudent long-term fiscal strategy than that which appears to be emerging from the Kansas Senate. A motion was adopted noting that stability and consistency in the budgetary process (as opposed to wild and volatile boom-and-bust cycles) leaves policymakers not having eventually to consider a smorgasbord of unattractive choices that include painful budget cuts, back-filling tax hikes, and additional penny-wise and pound-foolish options that rob from the future.

The Council also adopted several recommendations made by its property tax subcommittee chaired by former Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, including encouraging local units of government to use federal aid under the American Rescue Plan for one-time capital improvements, infrastructure investments, or for debt reduction; supporting the House Taxation Committee version of SB 13 regarding property tax transparency (as opposed to the House Committee of the Whole version, which added K-12 schools to the bill and removed an exemption for relatively small local units); amending SB 23 to provide tax relief for storm-damaged property through a refundable income tax credit as opposed to an expanded abatement authority of county commissions; and opposing SB 72, which makes unnecessary changes to education requirements and qualifications for becoming a county appraiser.

The Council adopted another motion regarding the usage of one-time federal funds from the American Rescue Plan coming directly to the state, specifically suggesting that such monies not be built into agency budgets or provide for permanent ongoing tax cuts, with the exception of a relatively small amount (approximately $46 million) that would be targeted for residential property tax relief by increasing from $20,000 to $40,000 the “homestead” exemption from the mandatory school district general fund levy. The current exemption of $20,000 was set in 1997.

The Governor’s proposal to utilize revenue from a carefully-controlled medical marijuana program to fund the state’s portion of badly needed Medicaid Expansion also was outlined at the meeting. At the direction of Co-Chairs Janis Lee and Steve Morris, the Council will be receiving additional information at its next meeting about the extent to which Medicaid Expansion can prevent additional rural facility closures and reduce long-term social costs – all of which has important implications for the health of the public sector in the future and the resumption of more equitable tax policy. The Council also plans to receive additional information on the American Rescue Plan and potential long-term budget impacts of one-time pandemic era funding and policies.