Sedgwick County officials and school‑district leaders used the town hall to summarize several concurrent projects they said aim to expand behavioral‑health capacity and workforce pipelines in the region.

Speakers described four major efforts: a $20 million Comcare crisis intervention center that has begun construction; a 104‑bed, roughly $100 million psychiatric facility that county presenters said is under construction in south Wichita to address inpatient bed shortages; workforce development through the downtown biomedical campus and WSU Tech future‑ready programs; and a county‑approved pilot called START services to train case managers to serve people with dual diagnoses (intellectual/developmental and mental‑health conditions).

Former Comcare staff and other commenters said the agency has struggled with morale and vacancies. One public commenter, identified in the meeting as a former Comcare psychologist, said long‑running staff shortages and turnover had disrupted internship programs and contributed to morale problems. County presenters acknowledged workforce shortages but said recent compensation and morale changes have reduced vacancy counts from larger historic levels; they pointed to the biomedical campus and new training routes at WSU Tech and USD 259 as pipeline steps.

Officials described existing co‑responder models and mobile mental‑health teams in the community: several ICT (integrated crisis team) units that pair law‑enforcement officers with social workers and paramedics, and multiple Comcare mobile teams for outreach. Presenters said the approach aims to reduce reliance on jail or emergency rooms by diverting people into treatment and shelter programs.

At the town hall, one county official said a recent county vote approved a START services pilot program to build case‑management capacity for dual‑diagnosis cases. Officials noted that beds, staffing and program starts would be staged as construction and hiring complete. Speakers emphasized the community is “in the messy middle” — multiple projects are underway, but benefits will arrive as facilities open and staffing grows.

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Officials urged patience while construction, hiring and training proceed and asked residents to track program milestones and forthcoming public notices for openings and service roll‑outs.