KDADS proposes bills to authorize 104‑bed regional psychiatric hospital, reinvest fines and prioritize outpatient competency restoration

Scott Brunner, deputy secretary at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, told the House Health and Human Services Committee that KDADS plans to introduce legislation on four topics this session: statutory placement of the Mental Health Intervention Team program, authorization and naming of a South Central regional psychiatric hospital, creation of a civil monetary penalty reinvestment program and changes to forensic competency evaluation and restoration procedures after a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Brunner said KDADS will seek a statutory home for the Mental Health Intervention Team (MHIT) program — which funds school districts to employ liaisons who link students with severe behavioral or mental health needs to local services — rather than continuing to rely on a proviso in the budget bill. He said the MHIT program began in 2018 with seven districts and now serves nearly 100 districts; KDADS plans to introduce that statutory change through the House Appropriations Committee.

On the regional hospital, Brunner described a planned 104‑bed state psychiatric facility in south Wichita (corner of MacArthur and Meridian) intended to serve patients ordered by courts for treatment and defendants needing competency restoration or evaluation. He said Sedgwick County is a local planning partner, funding sources include ARPA and state general funds are in place for construction, and the project anticipates breaking ground “at the end of this month/early in February” pending permits. KDADS plans to introduce hospital‑naming and authorization language through this committee.

Brunner said KDADS will seek statutory authority to change the name of Parsons State Hospital and Training Center by removing the “Training Center” language to reflect current operations.

On civil monetary penalties (CMPs), Brunner said federal rules allow states that collect fines and penalties for facility violations to pool those funds and use them for grants and quality initiatives; KDADS currently remits fines to the state general fund. The proposed bill would create a state fund to capture those penalties and direct them to grants for provider needs such as capital improvements, training or quality projects. Brunner said CMPs are used in other federal programs (including COVID‑related grants in past periods) and said the statutory change would be followed by rules to set grant criteria. In response to committee questions, he said typical fines “in most cases” are on the order of “three or four thousand dollars” per citation, and later provided a ballpark annual total across licensure types of about $250,000 to $400,000; he said the department would provide exact figures to the committee.

On forensic competency, Brunner said KDADS has been party to litigation with the American Civil Liberties Union over wait times for competency evaluations and restoration. He said the settlement requires legislative changes and reporting; KDADS plans to propose a law that makes outpatient competency evaluation and restoration in the community the primary route before a judge orders an individual to be admitted to a state hospital (for example, Larned State Hospital). The bill would also require KDADS to receive notice of every judicial order for competency services statewide to improve tracking and reporting.

Brunner said the CMP and hospital‑naming bills will be routed through the committee; the MHIT statutory language and outpatient competency proposals will be introduced in other committees but may come before this panel in the course of the session. He also said the department is working with counties, jails and mental health centers on pilot programs to deliver competency services in local settings and discussed challenges including medication management, clinical staffing and legal constraints for treating defendants in jails.

Committee members asked how grant criteria would prevent an appearance of rewarding facilities that had been fined; Brunner said federal models separate grant eligibility from the specific citations and that KDADS would develop criteria and standards to avoid simply rewarding bad actors. Representative Gardner asked about county responsibility for individuals awaiting evaluation; Brunner said counties house defendants while waiting and that KDADS will reimburse participating counties $100 per day under an existing program (authorized in prior legislation) for the period between order and admission to a state hospital. Brunner said there is currently no statutory time limit on wait times and that average wait times for admission over recent months have exceeded 350 days for admitted cases, a factor driving the department’s proposed statutory changes.

Brunner concluded by offering to provide more detailed numbers to the committee, including exact CMP amounts and program participation figures.