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Council proclaims May 2025 Mental Health Awareness Month; advisory members highlight new court clinician
Summary
The Overland Park City Council proclaimed May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month. Councilmember Newland and advisory committee member Greg Nwolnick described the committee's work and noted the presence of a behavioral health specialty court clinician, Eliza Rink, intended to assist diversion and court decision-making.
The Overland Park City Council on May 19 proclaimed May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month and heard remarks from members of the city's mental health task force and advisory committee about recent program developments.
Councilmember Newland recalled chairing a task force four years earlier that recommended creating a behavioral health presence to assist police responses and court diversion. "The top priority ... was setting up a behavioral health department within the police department to help on calls," Newland said, and he said that work led to the city's current crisis-response efforts.
Greg Nwolnick, a clinician who served on the original task force and the standing mental health advisory committee, said the group includes people with lived experience, clinicians and administrators. He told the council the committee's recent priorities included bolstering a behavioral-health presence in the courts. "We recently got to meet the behavioral health specialty court clinician, Eliza Rink, who will be fulfilling that role," Nwolnick said, adding that having a clinician in the courtroom can help identify interventions and clarify diversion options.
Nwolnick also praised the city’s behavioral-health response efforts, referencing the "award-winning" Overland Park Scribe Action Team as an example of work to reduce stigma and expand options for treatment and diversion. He said the pandemic helped normalize conversations about mental health and cautioned against rhetoric that stigmatizes people with mental health conditions.
The proclamation was presented as a ceremonial item on the agenda; the meeting record does not show a formal roll-call vote tied to the proclamation. No ordinances, budget amendments, or new staff hires were approved at the May 19 meeting in connection with the proclamation. The remarks indicate continued collaboration among council members, clinicians and advocates on diversion and court-based clinical support.
