This past year has been a year of tremendous growth for Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center. We’ve expanded services, hired many new therapists, developed new departments, and become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC).
CCBHC Certification
Our certification as a CCBHC establishes a foundation for continuous development in the coming years. Out of 26 community mental health centers in the state of Kansas, SEKMHC is one of the first five to earn certification. The CCBHC model of care concentrates on the overall health of a client, not just their mental health. We have expanded our care to integrate holistic care approaches, connect people with care coordination, and increase accessibility to services throughout our six-county catchment area.
Expanding our services meant adding new components of care, including:
• Assertive Community Treatment
• Employment programming through Individual Placement and Support
• Prevention and promotion efforts that focus on overall awareness and sharing Mental Health First Aid training and Question, Persuade, Refer suicide prevention awareness training with our communities
• Advanced Substance Use Disorder and addictions treatment
• Peer support advocacy program
• Addition of evidence-based therapy treatments, such as Accelerated Resolution Therapy and others
Looking into the future, we are striving to provide each client with a much more individualized experience by assisting clients in recovery-oriented ways in their homes, in our communities, or via telehealth whenever possible. We know that recovery is possible when you treat the person, not just their mental health challenge.
Taking Care of People
Not only do we want to take care of our clients, but we also need to take care of our team. This spring, we partnered with the University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine & Telehealth to provide trauma-informed care training to every employee. Trauma-informed care creates a culture that promotes safety, empowerment, and healing. It’s critical that we deliver services to our clients with this care in mind. However, it’s also imperative that we create a workplace that embraces trauma-informed care for our employees who may have experienced trauma in their personal or professional lives. This is an integral part of our growth.
General Services
In 2022, we served over 4,000 clients in our six-county catchment area. We provide school-based therapy and case management in 12 school districts, and we’re looking at expanding those services for the 2023-2024 school year.
