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Pawnee Mental Health and CASA ask Cloud County for higher 2025 appropriations
Summary
Pawnee Mental Health requested the county increase its 2025 appropriation to $108,962, citing 451 unduplicated local clients served in 2023 and roughly $365,000 in uncompensated care; CASA requested $15,000 for child advocacy services and volunteer recruitment.
Pawnee Mental Health asked the Cloud County Board of Commissioners on June 17 to raise the county appropriation for 2025 to $108,962. Michael Rexhalla, Pawnee's chief executive officer, told the board that Pawnee provided mental health and substance-abuse treatment services to 451 unduplicated Cloud County residents in 2023 and delivered more than $1 million in services to county residents, with about $365,000 uncompensated because clients lacked adequate insurance.
The request includes a per-client funding frame: according to the information presented, Cloud County currently spends approximately $193.55 annually per resident served and ranks 30th out of 105 Kansas counties on per-capita funding for Pawnee services. Rexhalla asked the commissioners to consider the increase as the county prepares its 2025 budget.
Also at the meeting, representatives of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) requested $15,000 in county funding for 2025. Tony Miller and Sheena Halverstadt said CASA agencies and partners served 55 children in 2023 and that Hope’s Place Child Advocacy Center completed 44 child forensic interviews that year. CASA representatives invited residents to volunteer and provided a contact phone number for the office.
Commissioners did not take a final vote on either appropriation request at the June 17 meeting; minutes show the requests will be considered during 2025 budget preparation. The board’s budget schedule and any final appropriation decisions will appear during the county’s formal 2025 budget hearings.
