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Kansas announces nearly $2m to support children exposed to drugs

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today announced that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in partnership with the Kansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, is awarding nearly $2 million to 18 Kansas service agencies in the first round of All Hands on DECK (Drug Endangered Children of Kansas) grants. The grants will help these organizations better identify and support children living in an environment where a parent or other caregiver uses, distributes, manufactures, or cultivates illegal drugs.

“It is critical that we stop the devastating toll drug addiction and exposure have on our children,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “This funding will make resources and help available to local communities and law enforcement working to curb the generational impact drugs have on Kansas families.”

This is the first round of grants being provided through the $6 million Kansas received from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (Department of Justice) to address substance use and misuse, promote public safety, reduce overdose deaths, and support access to prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services in communities as well as the justice system.

Approximately 140,860 Kansas children are living in environments where their parent or caregiver uses substances, and an estimated 5,155 Kansas infants are born exposed to substances every year. Children living in drug environments are at risk for devastating effects, including severe neglect, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and developmental delays.

“We are committed to keeping Kansas kids safe, and that is exactly what these funds will do,” said KDHE Secretary Janet Stanek. “We trust that communities will work with the resources allocated to them to provide a focused approach in their respective communities.”

The selected community organizations will focus on developing a response to address drug endangered children that fits their community’s unique needs. Activities include providing training to multidisciplinary professionals; providing training on adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed systems of care; establishing community drug drop boxes; and distributing care bags with necessities for children placed in custody.

The grants total $1,930,001.89.

The awardees are:

Agency

Location

Amount

Central Kansas Partnership

Great Bend

$130,000

Clay County Health Department

Clay Center

$106,000

Elk County Sheriff’s Department

Howard

$110,000

Finney County Community Health Coalition

Garden City

$80,950

Harvey County Health Department

Newton

$130,000

Liberal Area Coalition for Families

Liberal

$124,000

Live Well Crawford County

Pittsburg

$80,950

Miami County Health Department

Paola

$130,000

Mitchell County Regional Medical Foundation

Beloit

$116,000

Pottawatomie County Health Department

Westmoreland

$88,553.67

Pratt County DEC (Drug Endangered Children) Alliance

Pratt

$85,000

Prevention and Resilience Services

Topeka

$125,000

Riley County Health Department

Manhattan

$130,000

Rise Up Reno Prevention Network

Hutchinson

$122,000

Sheridan County Health Department

Hoxie

$ 65,000

Smith County Health Department

Smith Center

$65,000

Thrive Allen County

Iola

$111,548.22

Wilson County Health Department

Fredonia

$130,000

Statewide partners include the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, Kansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, Wichita State University’s Center for Applied Research and Evaluation at the Community Engagement Institute, DCCCA, Inc., and Mid-West Regional Technical Transfer Center.

Additional grant awardees will be announced in Spring 2024.

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