By Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Two years ago, Kansas ranked dead last in a national assessment of mental illness and access to behavioral health care.
In 2025, that ranking rose to 18th in the nation, and state officials say the shift is a direct outcome of investment in quality care.
A $72.5 million grant recently awarded to Kansas and two other states is expected to push the state’s progress further by bolstering access to quality behavioral health care.
“This initiative represents a pivotal opportunity for Kansas to lead in behavioral health innovation,” said Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, in a Nov. 18 news release.
Kansas, Illinois and Michigan will share the $72 million over the next three years. The Washington, D.C.-based National Council for Mental Wellbeing will administer the funds, which come from the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie.
The national council will use the grant to help states establish or expand Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, which offer 24/7 crisis care, counseling, case management, outpatient services, psychiatric rehabilitation, treatment planning and mental health care for veterans.
The grant will focus on building a range of services, including crisis care, outpatient mental health and substance use services, primary care screening and monitoring, community-based mental health care for veterans, and partnerships with community organizations such as law enforcement, schools and homeless shelters.
Connie Ballmer said in a national council news release that community behavioral health clinics have been successful in addressing community behavioral health needs, especially those of kids and families.
“Access to comprehensive, high-quality care provides people with the opportunity to achieve stability,” Ballmer said.
A 2024 study of Kansas clinics found that establishing community behavioral health clinics, which expanded upon existing services, increased annual visits from about 24,000 to about 42,000. The state’s annual costs also increased, rising from $52 million to $74 million, according to data from the state aging and disabilities department. However, the study hypothesized clinics may result in $5 million in costs avoided from would-be emergency room visits and $42 million in costs avoided from inpatient stays.
Kansas has 26 clinics. The state Legislature passed a bill in 2021 to certify and fund those clinics, a move regarded as one of the most significant changes to mental health care in Kansas in decades.
Community behavioral health clinics first opened in 2017 when a federal project established 66 clinics in eight states. More than 500 clinics now exist in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. They are largely funded by Medicaid.
Cara Sloan-Ramos, a spokesperson for the Kansas department, said it’s unclear how recent federal Medicaid changes could impact the state’s community behavioral health clinics.
“The state knows that federal policy changes are coming,” Sloan-Ramos said, “but the precise financial and operational impact on Kansas CCBHCs remains undetermined.”
The 2023 assessment that ranked Kansas last among all 50 states and Washington, D.C., cited youths with substance use disorders, adults with any mental illness and adults with serious thoughts of suicide as major factors for the state’s low ranking.
The state’s future efforts will focus on behavioral health workforce shortages, rural access to care, financial longevity, quality services and expanded partnerships to better coordinate wraparound care.
