22 May CMHS Receives $61,600 Grant from GKCCF, Jackson County Community Children’s Services Fund

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. was recently awarded a $61,600 grant from the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Jackson County Community Children’s Service Fund to provide school-based intervention services.

CMHS Prevention Specialists bring psychosocial groups into the school setting covering various topics: anger management, coping with anger/anxiety, drug prevention, risk taking, decision making, dealing with grief caused by death/divorce, social skills, and communication.

The School Prevention Program’s purpose is to ensure students gain life skills and self-efficacy to lead healthier lives. The program 1) teaches students the necessary skills to resist peer pressures to smoke, drink, and use drugs; 2) helps students develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence; 3) enables students to effectively cope with anxiety; 4) increases student knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse; and 5) enhances cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) is a community mental health center which has provided a safety net of mental health and substance use treatment services for over 47 years.  Services are provided both at home and in the community with respite care programs available. Staff seek to keep youth out of custody/placement and empower them to successfully gain control over their mental health issues and/or achieve sobriety.  CMHS seeks to expand its reach beyond the walls of its facility into more schools, the local Department of Health, and other similar mental health facilities in the coming years to ensure access to support and services is within reach for all residents of Jackson County.