25 May CMHS Recently Received a $70,000 Grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. was recently awarded a $70,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri Elderly and Handicapped Transportation Assistance Program (MODOT MEHTAP) to support the driver salaries, benefits, mileage, vehicle maintenance, fuel, and insurance to support transportation operating expenses.

The program will result in 29,500 one-way passenger trips. Most trips will be for mental health purposes. These trips will include transporting patients participating as outpatients to and from their homes for individual therapy, group therapy, and other psychosocial rehabilitation activities. CMHS also provides transportation services to support clients becoming self-sufficient. Individuals living in CMHS’s group homes also use transportation services for mental health treatment, activities encouraging social skill development, appointments with other social service agencies, and recreational purposes.

Mental illness is a fundamental problem in the United States, affecting millions of people each year. Mental illness can include any number of social, psychological, and behavioral disorders impacting people’s ability to function in daily life and form healthy relationships with their fellow human beings. Many individuals with mental illness attempt to assuage their symptoms through substance abuse. Mental health issues, combined with substance abuse, often result in alienation, homelessness, incarceration, and even death. Mental illness and substance abuse issues can be particularly detrimental to the elderly. Behaviors that are indicative of mental illness or substance abuse may be attributed to other conditions common to advancing age. Additionally, older people may have less social interaction than younger individuals, making changes in behavior difficult to spot. These factors all combine to place elderly individuals at a greater risk of undiagnosed mental illness, further contributing to the growing U.S. mental health problem.

CMHS serves elderly, mentally ill, and dually diagnosed (those with both a mental illness/disorder and a chemical addiction) individuals in Kansas City, Missouri, and eastern Jackson County.  CMHS provides a variety of services and treatment options to help clients meet their goals, including mental health evaluation and assessment, individual therapy, group therapy, case management, information and education services, and community support services (including transportation).