Author Archives: cjprecht

Mental Health Services in Kansas

The access to mental health services in Kansas currently follows a multi-prong approach aiming to provide care in the least restrictive environment. There are many different combinations of access depending on the type of services needed, the age of the person receiving care, and how the service will be paid. This memorandum provides information on the types of government-resourced services available to Kansans.

Differences Between Community Mental Health Centers and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics

During the 2021 Session, the Legislature passed Senate Sub. for HB 2208, which included a requirement for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) to establish a certification process for certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHCs), a Medicaid provider type, and complete the transition to the CCBHC model by SFY 2025.

KDADS certified six CCBHCs in SFY 2022, three in SFY 2023, 11 in SFY 2024, and has six planned in SFY 2025. Currently, 20 of the planned 26 CCBHCs are certified in Kansas.

History of the Supreme Court Ruling’s Impact on Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion Through Federal Fiscal Year 2013

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, jointly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in March 2010, included a section that addressed the expansion of the Medicaid program. This historical memorandum is a synopsis of the ACA as to Medicaid Expansion and the immediate impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision through federal fiscal year (FFY) 2013. The memorandum does not address the current status of Medicaid expansion adoption in states.

Red Flag Laws

Red flag laws, sometimes called “extreme risk protection order” (ERPO) laws or “gun violence restraining order” laws, allow a judge to issue an order that enables law enforcement to confiscate firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others. Prior to the enactment of red flag laws, in most states, law enforcement had no authority to remove firearms from individuals unless they had been convicted of specific crimes, even if their behavior was deemed unsafe.

Responding to the Shortage of Health Care Workers in Rural Kansas

According to the Rural Health Information Hub, Kansas has 82 critical access hospitals, 187 rural health clinics, 54 federally qualified health center sites located outside of urbanized areas, and 26 short-term hospitals located outside of urbanized areas. Additionally, the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform reports there are currently 104 rural hospitals, 60 of which are at risk of closing. These hospitals continue to face a shortage of health care workers, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This memorandum describes the reasons for that shortage and the State’s response to it.

Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory (CRT) emerged in the 1970s as a legal theory in response to what some viewed as a stalling of the civil rights movement. Over the years, CRT grew and evolved, with several scholars, including Kimberlé Crenshaw, Cheryl Harris, Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic, Patricia Williams, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Tara Yosso, credited as originators along with Bell and Freeman by the American Bar Association.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines CRT as “a group of concepts used for examining the relationship between race and the laws and legal institutions of a country and especially the United States”; and also as “a movement advocating the examination of that relationship.” CRT, unlike other legal scholarship, allows for the notion of storytelling, to provide context and understanding. These three themes—racism as a structural issue, critique of liberalism in failing to meet the needs of Black Americans, and storytelling—allow the audience to best distinguish CRT from other scholarship.

However, as CRT is a constantly developing area, it is not limited to those three themes.