22 Jan Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City Awards $50,000 Grant to Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS)

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City to implement a Crisis Services Case Management Program.

The overall goal of the Crisis Services Case Management program is to ensure individuals in crisis are able to maintain stability between their initial appointments and connect to services which will begin to address their non-mental health needs, which may be exacerbating their mental health condition.

Persons living with a Severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) represent a significant percentage of the clients of mental health services, and treatment for these disorders often involves psychiatric medications, periodic hospitalization, and community-based care. Severe mental illness typically does not level off and remain at a steady state. Rather, symptoms come and go in relation to stress. As a result, people with SPMI may be able to function independently for periods of time but may need intensive support with housing, school, work, social functioning, and other everyday life concerns when they experience a stressful event. In many successful examples, case managers connect frequent emergency room users with behavioral health or social services that meet their needs.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) is a community mental health center that provides a safety net of mental health and substance abuse treatment services, prevention education, and integrated mental and primary health services for low income people in Eastern Jackson County and the Urban Core of Kansas City Missouri. CMHS is celebrating its 45th year of serving as the mental health safety net for eastern Jackson County.