HCF Awards $4.4 Million in Mental Health Grants

Date: 
August 10, 2011
Contact: 
Jennifer Sykes
Phone: 
816-241-7006

KANSAS CITY, MO – The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF) has awarded 35 non-profit organizations a total of $4.4 million in mental health grants. Many of the grants awarded address the integration of physical and mental health care, finding innovative ways to treat children and families struggling with behavioral health issues and providing prevention and treatment services for victims of domestic violence and child abuse.

“When the economy is struggling and governments face major fiscal challenges, mental and behavioral health funding can become scarce,” said Steve Roling, President/CEO of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. “Unfortunately, these are the times when mental health services are most needed, with many agencies experiencing an increase in demand for services. HCF is pleased to award these organizations with grants to help maintain and expand mental health services for the uninsured and underserved.”

HCF released its mental health request for proposals in February. The Foundation received a total of 74 proposals totaling $9.2 million in requests. The following grants were selected by a team of external reviewers from outside the HCF service area and awarded at the August HCF Board of Directors meeting.

Agency Amount Awarded Project Description
Amethyst Place $43,000 Grant supports families recovering from substance abuse by providing a licensed mental health professional to perform validated assessment therapy to help inform family-specific treatment plans.
Artists' Helping The Homeless $200,000 Provides funding for the Kato House Housing First Initiative, which increases access to mental health services and housing resources for homeless individuals with psychiatric disorders who are referred from local hospitals in Greater Kansas City.
Benilde Hall $75,000 Grant supports evidence-based mental health services and medical care for dual-diagnosed homeless men in substance abuse treatment, including counseling, trauma informed care, psychological services, and medication compliance training.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City $50,000 Provides funding for the SMART Moves-Healthy Relationships program, which focuses on preventing child abuse and violence through ten-week training sessions for children and parents that focus on strengthening mental stability.
CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte County $100,000 Supports the Child Advocacy Project, a program that uses professional case supervisors and trained community volunteers to minimize the impact of child abuse and neglect by ensuring that children receive needed mental and physical health services in a consistent and timely manner.
Child Protection Center, Inc. $135,000 Funds salary support for the Forensic Interviewer Project, which serves children who are victims of sexual, physical and/or community violence by providing forensic interviews, ensuring their safety, and referring medical care and mental health treatment.
Community LINC $55,370 Supports the Children’s Mental Wellness Program, which provides comprehensive treatment to children in the transitional housing program, including mental health assessments, individualized treatment plans and therapy.
Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. $159,534 Grant supports salaries for health professionals including a psychiatrist, pediatric nurse, fitness coach, and nutritionist who serve Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED) children with both mental and physical health needs.
Crittenton Children’s Center $200,000 Supports acute inpatient psychiatric care for 230 uninsured children, and provides family stabilization and transition services for children and families needing ongoing home interventions.
El Centro, Inc. $89,000 Grant funds salary support for the “Si, se puede” program, which provides Spanish-speaking victims of domestic/intimate partner violence or child abuse with needed services including individual crisis intervention, group support sessions, and legal rights training.
Hope Haven of Cass County $25,375 Provides staff salary funding and mental health services for the Fostering Recovery from Violence program, which expands mental health services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their children.
Hope House, Inc. $90,405 Grant funds staff support for a pilot therapy program that serves emergency shelter clients who have severe mental health problems.
Jewish Vocational Services $125,000 Supports social worker staffing and interpreting services to address increased demand for the Refugee-Immigrant Social Integration Program that provides mental health counseling and intense case management services, including domestic violence counseling and education.
Kansas City Free Health Clinic $117,180 Grant funds the Behavioral Health Psychiatry Program for uninsured patients by providing salary support for several health professionals including a psychiatric nurse practitioner, medical assistant, and contracted psychiatrist.
KU Endowment Association OBO the KU School of Social Welfare $121,126 Supports management and therapist staffing for Achieving Youth Success through Parent Involvement, a school-based initiative to connect underserved and uninsured youth, particularly Latino youth, to needed mental health services.
KVC Hospitals, Inc. $164,000 Grant provides mental health treatment for children and adolescents by supporting two additional case management positions, and funds the online implementation of Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) training.
Lexington R-V School District $57,603 Grant supports mental health treatment and education for students and their families in Lafayette County’s six school districts.
Midwest Foster Care & Adoption Association $150,000 Grant provides staff salary support for Extreme Recruitment, a 20-week intensive and individualized recruitment program focused on finding caregivers for difficult to place children.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Greater Kansas City $70,140 Grant helps address increased demand in mental health services for the medically indigent by supporting salary for an Intake Specialist who links clients and family members to care coordination and external mental health providers.
Newhouse, Inc. $50,000 Funding supports mental health screening for women and children who are victims of domestic violence, and provides funds for evaluation of the program to implement a best-practices framework.
Niles Home for Children $61,300 Grant supports an on-site psychiatrist to perform assessment, crisis intervention, early intervention, clinical consultation, medical management, and therapy services for youth in the Enhanced Behavioral Health Program.
Operation Breakthrough, Inc. $210,430 Supports behavioral health services including therapy and preventative services for children with multiple traumas and their families.
Pathways Community Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. $153,849 Grant funds professional staff including a psychiatrist, clinician, nurse liaison, and mental health practitioners to support comprehensive behavioral healthcare services for Cass and Lafayette county residents suffering from co-occurring disorders, depression, domestic violence, and child abuse.
ReDiscover $135,000 Grant funds planning and implementation of a Health Care Home model that provides a full range of healthcare services for persons with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders.
Rose Brooks Center, Inc. $261,758 Grant funds Project SAFE, a school-based anti-violence education and therapy program for at-risk youth, by providing salary support for a coordinator, therapist and prevention specialists.
Safehome, Inc. $300,000 Grant provides capacity and evaluation support for the Metropolitan Family Violence Coalition’s BridgeSPAN Program, a coordinated effort from five domestic violence shelters to provide on-site advocacy support, safety planning, and access to mental health services.
Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center $150,000 Provides support for salaries and direct expenses to implement an integrated Primary Care Screening and Depression Treatment Program that allows proactive follow-up and integrated behavioral health care management to patients diagnosed with depression.
Shepherds Center of Kansas City, Kansas, Inc. $70,000 Supports salaries and program expenses for the Peer Support Program, which serves low-income older adults in Wyandotte County by addressing stigma and accessibility issues associated with mental health services.
Synergy Services, Inc. $174,595 Grant funds salary support for therapists who provide supportive case management, advocacy, and intensive therapeutic services to low-income, at-risk, and underserved clients who are suffering from the detrimental consequences of violence, abuse, neglect, family dysfunction, and trauma.
The Children’s Mercy Hospital $33,000 Funds training for 15 mental health providers to learn A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment that is designed to improve the relationship between children and parents/caretakers whose histories involve child physical abuse, harsh/excessive physical discipline and/or coercion, hostility, and chronic conflict.
The University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. $168,924 Grant supports staff and expenses for the Intensive Positive Behavioral Support Response to Intervention Model, a program that addresses the needs of parents and other family members who struggle with co-occurring disorders such as social-emotional problems, depression, psychological issues, social isolation, and violence and substance abuse.
TLC for Children and Families, Inc. $195,080 Provides salary support for a therapist, milieu therapist, nurse, and care coordinator to assist expansion of the Phoenix Program, a therapeutic, trauma-focused, residential treatment program targeting the highest risk children and youth.
Tri-County Mental Health Services, Inc. $125,000 Supports enhancement of integrated treatment services to clients with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse conditions by providing assessments, group therapy and education, individual and family therapy, community support, and medication services.
Truman Medical Center Charitable Foundation $115,931 Supports salaries for clinicians to diagnose and treat victims of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder occurring after a person experiences or witnesses a violent or traumatic event, and is especially prevalent among persons living in the urban core.
Wyandot Center for Community Behavioral Healthcare $167,400 Grant supports implementation of a person-centered healthcare home for adults by providing funds for equipment, supplies, and salary support for a care coordinator and nurse practitioner.

The Mental Health grants are the second Foundation Defined Grants (FDGs) awarded by the Foundation in 2011. Safety Net Health Care grants will be announced in December 2011. For more information, visit the Foundation’s website at hcfgkc.org.