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Sedgwick County staff to apply for statewide crisis-service awards; mobile crisis funding also sought
Summary
Sedgwick County staff briefed commissioners on two proposed grant applications to KDADS for crisis services: operational funding for the county's crisis center and a separate application for mobile crisis response. Commissioners asked about scope, timing and whether awards would change local revenues.
Sedgwick County staff said the county will submit two grant applications to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) to seek funding for crisis services that cover both operations at the local crisis center and mobile crisis response.
Comcare staff member Tim said the first application seeks to document and fund the full cost of crisis-services operations in the county's catchment area, and the second application is for mobile crisis teams. "So this is a change in practice for KDADS as they have, as more CMHCs have become CCBHCs, they're starting to open up crisis centers like we have," Tim said. He said KDADS issued a request for applications to understand statewide crisis costs and award funds accordingly.
Why it matters: Commissioners described the sums discussed as large and asked whether the grants represent new revenue or merely document existing costs. Tim said the operational application isolates crisis costs so the state can allocate funding for the county's crisis center; it covers "staffing, our supplies, everything that falls under our crisis umbrella" but excludes mobile crisis, which is a separate application.
Details and timing: Tim said allocations should be known by April 1 and, if awarded, would apply to the July 1 through June 30 fiscal year with a possible additional year of funding. Commissioners pressed for whether the grants would pay for new positions or current staff; Tim said the applications reflect current operational employees rather than new hires. A commissioner noted a referenced amount of about $9 million as a total cost figure; Tim described that figure as the full cost figure before revenues, not the county's net expenditure.
Mobile crisis and co-responder models: Commissioners asked for clarity about models of mobile response. Tim described a distinction between Comcare's mobile crisis teams and "ICT 1" co-responder teams. "ICT 1 is called the co-responder model. So that's 3 staff: a law enforcement, the paramedic, and the licensed master's level therapist that go out," Tim said. He said ICT 2 through 5 are collaborative response teams staffed differently and that the KDADS mobile crisis application would apply to Comcare's mobile teams — not the co-responder ICT 1 model funded or partnered with law enforcement.
Next steps: Commissioners agreed to move the two KDADS grant items off consent and into new business on the next regular agenda to allow more public visibility. Staff said they will submit applications and update commissioners when allocation amounts are known.
Ending: The applications are proposals at this stage; awards and final allocations will depend on KDADS decisions and will be reported back to the commission once determined.
