Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mental Health Licensure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Comcare asks Sedgwick County to sign off on CMHC and CCBHC relicensure applications
Summary
Comcare Executive Director Michelle Calvert asked commissioners to approve biennial applications that keep the county’s public behavioral health safety net eligible for state and federal funding, explaining the operational and reporting demands of CMHC and CCBHC status.
Comcare Executive Director Michelle Calvert told Sedgwick County commissioners on July 14 that the agency is applying for biennial relicensure as a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) and as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), and she asked the commission to sign the applications on the consent agenda at the board’s next meeting.
Calvert said the CMHC license and CCBHC certification ensure Comcare can continue to serve as the county’s public behavioral health safety net, providing 24‑hour crisis services, case management, therapy and medication management for people regardless of ability to pay. "As a community mental health center, we are the public behavioral health safety net for our community," she said.
Calvert reviewed the compliance burden: roughly 150 pages of state CMHC regulations and about 65 pages of CCBHC criteria implemented through the state, with KDADS overseeing CCBHCs in Kansas. She said CCBHC requirements include staffing at levels to meet community need, robust care coordination, mobile crisis response and significant reporting. "Care coordination is the golden thread of CCBHCs," Calvert said. She added Comcare’s mobile crisis teams average about 30 minutes to reach calls; regulation requires response within one hour.
Calvert also noted recent accreditations that support the agency’s crisis work, including accreditation to operate a 988 crisis helpline and online chat/text services. She said the licensure and accreditation work helps sustain funding and reimbursement for services: without the licenses Comcare would lose avenues to access state and federal resources.
Commissioners asked whether there is a cost to the application (Calvert said there is no application fee) and whether licensure affects Comcare’s ability to provide services (Calvert said loss of licensure would significantly affect service delivery and funding access). Commissioners and staff also discussed state payment models for CCBHCs and potential changes to PPS/billing codes; staff said the state has convened a work group to review reimbursement rules and Comcare has a seat at that table.
Calvert asked the commission to sign off on the CMHC and CCBHC license applications so Comcare can proceed with the relicensure process. The item was described as a consent agenda item at the commission’s next meeting.
