Agreement commits Kansas to improving mental health services

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Advocates and state officials say Kansas has committed to expanding mental health services to help move more than 600 people from adult care homes into their communities.

The promises to improve services over the next eight years result from a 13-page agreement among two state agencies and five organizations announced Tuesday.

The agreement heads off a potential lawsuit by the organizations. It also follows a 2019 report by the Disability Rights Center of Kansas alleging that the state was violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by keeping people in adult care homes unnecessarily.

The state denied that but one official hailed the agreement as progress.