KANZA Mental Health serves more in 2015, commission learns

 

KANZA Mental Health & Guidance Center served 282 additional clients within its four-county service area last year, according to the organization’s annual report.

David Elsbury, CEO of KANZA, outlined the report at a recent Jackson County Commission meeting and highlighted the fact that the number of unduplicated clients served last year increased from 1,369 to 1,651.

“Despite this respectable increase, we do not come close to addressing the real needs that exist,” Elsbury said. “Barriers to address the needs are multi-faceted and include a stigma against the mentally ill, the lack or insufficient ability to pay for care, insufficient funding at the state level for the uninsured, a shortage of qualified professionals and state and federal regulations that limit agencies that deliver care. Despite these challenges, prevention, education and treatment for mental health problems are effective. When a person chooses to seek and engage in treatment, they become healthier. Recovery from a mental illness is a realistic goal, and prevention, education and treatment are the solution.”

First formed in Brown County in 1963, KANZA provides behavioral health services to residents in Jackson, Brown, Doniphan and Nemaha counties.

Of those served in 2015, 867 were female and 783 were male. A total of 544 were from Brown County, 477 from Jackson County, 306 from Nemaha County, 185 from Doniphan County and 139 from other counties.

Some of the mental illnesses treated this past year by KANZA staff members included depressive disorders, adjustment and relationship disorders, bipolar disorders, attention deficit and disruptive disorders, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders.

Among those served, 37 percent (618) were between the ages of one and 17, and 31 percent (519) were between the ages of 26 and 50. Seventy-seven percent (1,265) were white, 12 percent (199) were American Indian/Alaskan native and three percent (50) were Black or African American. 

“I am pleased with the number of American Indians we’re serving,” he said. “It’s a larger percentage of the population in this region. Even though the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has some of its own services, our services were still available and being utilized by that population of individuals.”

According to the annual report, only one percent of those served by KANZA were Hispanic.

“Community-based mental health services have never been more important than they are at the present,” Elsbury said. “An examination of our nation, state and local communities demonstrates that there are clear and sometimes startling examples of the need for mental health. Despite this great need and outcry for more attention to the needs that exists, in Kansas there is a growing concern about the availability of adequate treatment and support for persons experiencing mental illness and their families and loved ones.”

In 2015, KANZA received a total of $3,330,001.07 in funding. Seventy-four percent came from revenues generated by fees rendered for services. Additional sources included $488,698.19 in state and federal funding, $223,505 in county funding, $32,890.44 in county liquor tax and $130,506.46 from other sources.

Total expenditures were $3,216,185.65 in 2015, Elsbury reported.

KANZA hosted several Mental Health First Aid training events last year, and more than 200 people were trained.

In August, KANZA finalized the purchase of the Moser building in Holton, which is located at 510 Kansas Ave., and administrators are seeking $400,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to renovate half of the building. The commissioners recently agreed to allow KANZA to apply for the grant through the county.

In addition to support for the grant application, the Jackson County Commission annually allocates $64,000 in county funding to KANZA.

Members of KANZA’s governing board are appointed by the commissioners of each county and include:

* Jackson County: Scott Foster, Karen Stous and Mellissa Morse.

* Brown County: Joanna Davidson, Steve Davies and Richard Lehmkuhl.

* Doniphan County: Robert Wayman, David Van Laar and Charles Baskins.

* Nemaha County: Kent Saylor and Tim Burdiek.

* At-large positions: Jennifer Nagely and Sheila Koelliker. 

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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