31 Oct Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) Receives $7,960 from MODOT MEHTAP

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) was recently awarded a $7,960 grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), Missouri Elderly and Handicapped Transportation Assistance Program (MEHTAP) to transport patients who are elderly to medical appointments and other critical transportation needs.

CMHS anticipates transportation services for elderly patients will add 75,000 vehicle miles.  The program will provide 30,000 one-way passenger trips. Of this total, 3,600 trips will be conducted for medical appointments, 1,490 trips will be for education services, 71 trips will be for employment services, 839 trips will be for essential shopping, 1,200 trips will be for social events, and 22,800 trips will be for services that fall under “other,” most of which are directly related to mental health/substance use care.

CMHS’s elderly clients desperately need daily transportation support to ensure they can recover from mental health and substance use issues. They also need transportation services to access community resources that their case managers and community support teams deem crucial to their recovery and continued well-being.  For older adults, public transportation is often insufficient, inappropriate, and at times unavailable. Often, even when elderly people can afford transportation, they are no longer able to reliably operate a vehicle. Many CMHS clients have mental illnesses that affect their ability to cope with the complexities of public transportation’s schedules and transfer requirements. While there are new and affordable elderly housing units being built in Jackson County, there are still no convenient bus stops nearby that elderly adults can easily access.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services (CMHS) provides mental health and substance use recovery services for residents of Eastern Jackson County. In 2018, CMHS served 136 elderly patients.