Astra Mental Health and Recovery tells Shawnee County commissioners merger has expanded access and cut wait times

Kathy Mosier, speaking for Astra Mental Health and Recovery, told the Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners that a January 1 merger of Valeo and Family Service & Guidance Center has increased service capacity and improved access across the county.

Mosier said the combined agencies delivered "258,000 plus services to 11,000 people" in 2025 and recorded a 9% overall increase in services year over year. She told commissioners therapy services rose 44% and that Astra reduced average wait time for care to about four days, below the state standard of 10 days. "When you serve someone at the time they need it, then what you know is they're not going to get worse waiting for it," she said.

The presenter emphasized workforce gains, saying Astra ran a pipeline that included more than 30 interns and new licensed clinicians without raising administrative costs. She described the agency's federal CCBHC (Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic) designation as requiring tighter access standards, evidence-based practices, and increased auditing.

Mosier also highlighted crisis-response expansions: mobile crisis services — a CCBHC requirement — were added for youth and adults and were expanded by 206% year over year, she said. Mosier said the legacy agencies and Astra handled roughly 79% of local mental-health crisis calls routed to them, which reduced pressure on 911, 988 and emergency departments.

School partnerships were presented as another major outcome. Mosier said participating students' school attendance improved by about 83% after on-site services were provided and that Astra added an "internal behavior" outcome category showing roughly 80% improvement on self-harm and depression measures.

On criminal-justice partnerships, Mosier said adult law-enforcement contacts were diverted from jail in about 83% of cases and a juvenile-justice partnership achieved roughly a 98% diversion rate, which she framed as both better care for people in crisis and a public-cost saving.

Commissioners pressed Mosier on funding and sustainability. She said roughly half of services were provided to uninsured people and half were covered by payers; charitable-care costs have risen, in part because some people lost or avoid Medicaid coverage amid federal and state enrollment changes. Mosier warned of broader eligibility risk, citing a national estimate that roughly 27% of current Medicaid enrollees could lose coverage under recent enrollment churn and said Astra plans to add benefit specialists to help clients retain coverage.

She also noted merger startup costs — especially implementing a common electronic health record and new payroll and accounting systems — have been large, and said longer-term savings are expected once those initial costs are absorbed.

Mosier confirmed Astra provides competency restoration services for adults and juveniles and said the county's crisis-intervention center had passed most licensure checks but still needed minor fixes and one remaining staffing gap for full 24-hour coverage. She said the agency is coordinating with the county jail's behavioral-health unit and judges to create step-down care and continuity for people exiting custody.

The presentation closed with Mosier offering to provide commissioners additional data and thanking the commission for past support. No public commenters signed up at the meeting.