Grants help troubled youth, homeless population find ‘safe harbor’ in Johnson County
Johnson County Mental Health is about to get more robust. The agency recently received about $2.1 million in grants from Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to make a Youth Crisis Stabilization Center and to increase its outreach for homeless people in the county.
The county’s Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center refers many kids who need mental health evaluation after a domestic disturbance or dispute. Now, if there isn’t an immediate safety problem, the child might get sent right back home because there isn’t a place for them to go, said Tim DeWeese, director of Johnson County Mental Health Center.
“What the crisis stabilization unit really is is an opportunity for us to get involved maybe before everything is falling apart for that youngster or that family so that we can divert an immediate hospitalization or increased level of care, or maybe prevent that need for a higher level of care,” DeWeese said.
“And that’s really not a good option for the youngster. It’s not a good option for the parents, because it just means they’re going to start fighting again, and the police are going to be back out to the house. And you start to see this revolving door.”
He called the stabilization center a “safe harbor” that lets everyone get a break from the stressful situation and have a chance to cool down. A stay at the center could generally be anywhere from 24 to 72 hours.
“What we see in most crisis situations is that if we can remove the stimuli from the person or remove them from the stimuli and have a period of roughly 72 hours, we can deescalate most crisis situations. A lot of times that’s just by talking. It’s by utilizing grounding techniques. It can be with the introduction of medication,” DeWeese said.
For parents like Keri Johnson, it could be very helpful to have the crisis center as an option. She has been getting support for her stepdaughter from Johnson County Mental Health for years, using all the services they offer.
“We definitely could have used it. There were some times where we had some difficult situations where she did not want to return to our home, and she had to,” Johnson said.
For instance, if your child runs away from home and gets picked up by the police but hasn’t done anything to warrant juvenile detention and isn’t a suicide risk, there just aren’t a lot of places for youth to go besides right back home.
“I think it offers all parties that are involved an opportunity to deescalate and separate and prevent things from being worse. When you get caught up in circumstances where your child is defiant and/or a safety concern for yourself or themselves, it changes things,” Johnson said.
She likes the idea of having a place for children to go where they can get help working through different emotions, and parents know they’re safe.
“By the time you get to this point, you’re pretty desperate. You’re desperate for help. You’re desperate for solutions. You’re desperate to understand what’s going on, why you can’t fix it, why you can’t control anything,” she said.
Most of the $1.48 million earmarked for the program will go toward paying staff. It’ll be part of the Adolescent Center for Treatment at 920 W. Spruce St. in Olathe.
Although starting with only 10 beds, DeWeese said he hopes to expand in the future. Initially, the program will be open to those referred by the justice system. Later, it might also include kids who are already working with the county’s mental health department.
The grant will last for a year. After that, funding will come through Medicaid, as well as through state and federal sources in the agency’s regular budget.
Johnson County Mental Health also received a grant of $643,567 to expand its homeless outreach. DeWeese said that money will go to increase staff for existing programs that try to help people get stable, and later permanent, supportive housing.
With this boost, he expects to be able to reach more people and continue working on establishing a homeless service center and shelter in Johnson County.
“We’ll be able to meet the need of the homeless population that has mental illnesses here in Johnson County to a greater extent,” DeWeese said.
The availability of safe, affordable housing is a real obstacle, he said. Many people lose their housing after a financial crisis like a huge medical bill or an injury that prevents them from working.
“I would say that any of us are one crisis away from potentially becoming homeless,” DeWeese said.
What the program does is help people find shelter, get food and look after their physical and mental health. Program staff members also work with landlords to help establish stable, affordable housing.
Like the youth crisis center, funding for this program after the first year will come through the agency’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic status with the state.
