WICHITA — Mental health advocates say funding cuts to mental health services in Kansas have spawned layoffs at some of the state’s 26 health centers. Many of them are positions that help families in crisis manage day-to-day care.
There’s a $30 million budget hole for mental health for the current fiscal year, the Association of Community Mental Health Centers said last month a figure that the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services does not dispute.
Association director Kyle Kessler says funding cuts will result in an estimated the loss of 200 positions statewide in mental health centers.
The latest funding cuts come in a sector that never saw its pre-Recession state funding restored, and advocates are warning of more hospital admissions, emergency room visits and interactions with law enforcement.
