KDADS secretary outlines behavioral-health investments, IDD waiver and $221M rural health award

Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, told the Legislative Public Health and Welfare Committee that KDADS will press ahead on behavioral-health expansion, long-term services modernization and rural health projects after the agency received a $221,000,000 first‑year award under the federal rural health transformation program.

The presentation outlined KDADS accomplishments and 2026 priorities, including crisis funding and staffing for state hospitals, a CCBHC technical‑assistance initiative, the roll‑out of a community support waiver for certain IDD services, and planned contracts using rural health transformation money to support behavioral health and aging services.

Howard said Kansas was selected for a multi‑state technical‑assistance program led by the Ballmer Group and that the initiative will bring roughly $72,000,000 in support across three states to scale Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). "It's one thing to develop CCBHCs. It's another thing to really scale those, to sustain those, and to make sure that they're really having an impact," Howard said.

She said KDADS administered about $26,000,000 in crisis…