To address the growing mental health needs for adults, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved 18 full-time positions to establish an Adult Crisis Stabilization Center and add new positions to the 988 suicide prevention hotline .
“These additions are a response to undeniable community needs. The Adult Crisis Stabilization Center will benefit not only members of the community in need of mental health assistance but will also lessen the demands on area law enforcement and emergency rooms where these individuals were previously treated,” Chairman Mike Kelly said in a statement. “The additional 988 operators will better serve our youth population by expanding texting services, meeting young people where they’re at with their preferred form of communication.”
More than $1.2 million from Medicaid’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic funding will fund the positions of one mental health clinician, one mental health case manager, 12 behavioral health specialists, three nurses and one nursing supervisor…