KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A unanimous vote from the Johnson County Commission on Dec. 15 will provide money for more mental health case managers and two new case management teams.
The 21 new positions will be paid for by contract revenues through Medicaid established by the prospective payment system rate negotiated between Johnson County Mental Health Center and the State of Kansas, according to a news release from Johnson County.
More money means more people to help a system strained by its caseload.
Currently, caseloads exceed standard rates of cases per case managers for Adult Services and Children and Family Services, according to Tim DeWeese, director of the Mental Health Center.
“If you have a lower workload for your employees, then they can provide higher quality services, more intensive services, so you should see also a decrease in crisis use,” DeWeese told the Board of County Commissioners during his presentation. “You should see an increase in employment. You should see a decrease in hospitalization. You should see, on the kids’ side, an increase in school functioning.”
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