Mental Health Intervention Team Pilot Program

2018 Legislation

In Sub. for SB 423 and House Sub. for SB 61, the 2018 Legislature created the Mental Health Intervention Team Pilot Program (Program) for fiscal year (FY) 2019 “to improve social-emotional wellness and outcomes for students by increasing schools’ access to counselors, social workers and psychologists statewide” (2018 Sub. for SB 423, Sec. 1(a)). The legislation required school districts and community mental health centers (CMHCs) to enter into partnerships through memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to implement the Program. Additionally, the legislation required mental health intervention teams to consist of school liaisons employed by the participating school districts, in addition to clinical therapists and case managers employed by the participating CMHCs. The legislation specified nine school districts that would participate in the Program.
The Legislature appropriated $10.0 million from the State General Fund (SGF) to the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) to fund the Program. The appropriations included $4.2 million to cover treatment costs for participating students. This included $2.6 million in match for Medicaid costs and $1.5 million for CMHCs. In addition, the appropriations included $3.3 million to cover the costs associated with the school liaisons hired by participating school districts. Finally, $2.5 million was included to create an online database to be used for the Program.

2019 Legislation

In House Sub. for SB 25, the 2019 Legislature reauthorized the Program for FY 2020. The Legislature appropriated $8.0 million from the SGF. The Legislature also made several adjustments to the Program, reappropriating unused funds for the pilot program from FY 2019 to FY 2020, requiring a 25.0 percent local match for the school liaisons hired by participating school districts, and providing the State Board of Education (State Board) with the authority to expand the Program to additional school districts for FY 2020.

Program Overview

Scope of Program

As implemented by KSDE, the Program focuses on providing care to two groups of students.

The “alpha group” consists of youth who are Children in Need of Care (CINC) and are in state custody. These students have experienced multiple placements and moved school districts multiple times throughout the school year.

The “beta group” consists of all other youth (non -CINC) who are in need of mental health support services.

Duties of Intervention Team Members

The duties of school liaisons employed by participating school districts include, but are not limited to:

• Identifying appropriate referrals;
• Acting as a liaison between the school district and the CMHC;
• Helping the CMHC prioritize interventions for identified students;
• Facilitating connections between identified students’ families and the CMHC staff;
• Communicating with child welfare contacts to get the educational history of a student who has moved schools; and
• Gathering outcomes to monitor the effectiveness of the program.

The duties of clinical therapists employed by participating CMHCs include, but are not limited to:

• Helping the school liaison identify appropriate referrals and prioritize interventions for identified students;
• Conducting a clinical assessment of the identified student and making appropriate treatment recommendations;
• Providing individual and family therapy;
• Communicating with school personnel to help them understand a student’s diagnosis, family circumstance, and suggested interventions; and
• Gathering outcome data to monitor the effectiveness of the Program.

The duties of case managers employed by participating CMHCs include, but are not limited to:

• Working with the school liaison and clinical therapist to identify and prioritize students for treatment interventions;
• Providing outreach to students, families, and child welfare contacts to help engage in treatment;
• Helping maintain communication between all entities involved, including family, student, school, clinician, child welfare, and community;
• Making referrals to appropriate community resources; and
• Helping to reconnect students and families when they are not following through with the treatment process.

Memorandums of Understanding

Participating school districts are required to enter into two MOUs for the Program.
The first MOU is with KSDE; it outlines the basic requirements of the Program and specifies how funding received for the Program is to be spent. The second MOU is between the school district and its partner CMHC. This MOU outlines how the school district and CMHC will cooperate in the implementation of the Program. (KSDE produced and distributed a standard memorandum for this agreement, but did not require school districts to use it.)

Additionally, KSDE has entered into a MOU with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to cover the distribution of the funding for Medicaid-related costs. During FY 2019, the Medicaid funding for the program was distributed to the participating school districts. The school districts then made payments to KDHE. For FY 2020, however, KSDE paid KDHE directly for Medicaid-related costs.

Breakdown of Funding

Total funding for the Program for FY 2020 was $9.3 million. This included the $8.0 million appropriated by the 2019 Legislature and $1.3 million reappropriated from FY 2019 to FY 2020.

Most of the funding for the Program flowed through the participating school districts. The following is a description of the two different grants to school districts and the payments made to KDHE.

School Liaison Grant. This grant is distributed to school districts on a monthly basis. School districts submit requests each month to cover anticipated expenditures. Allowable expenditures for this grant include salary, fringe benefits, travel expenses, and a computer that must be used exclusively by the school liaison. Beginning in FY 2020, participating school districts must cover 25.0 percent of the cost of the liaisons. School liaison grant funding for FY 2020 was $4.0 million, compared to $3.3 million in FY 2019.

CMHC Grant. This grant is distributed quarterly to school districts. School districts must forward all payments to the participating CMHC to cover the cost for treatment and services for students who are uninsured or underinsured.

Grant funding for FY 2020 was $2.1 million, compared to $1.5 million in FY 2019.

KDHE Payments. As mentioned above, KSDE will make payments directly to KDHE to cover Medicaid costs related to the Program. KDHE payments for FY 2020 were $2.6 million, which is the same as in FY 2019.

Reporting Requirements

KSDE requires participating school districts to submit, in conjunction with their partner CMHC, two reports during the fiscal year. A report covering the first half of the school year was due December 20, 2019. The second report covering the entire year was due June 30, 2020.

These reports track the number of students served and various academic performance measures, including attendance, behavior, and graduation. In FY 2020, 3,266 total students received services from CMHCs through the program, including 343 students in foster care.

Additionally, the year-end report includes a financial report on program expenditures for the fiscal year. In the 2018-19 school year, state expenditures totaled $7.3 million, including $2.9 million for school district liaisons and $1.5 million for CMHCs. In the 2019-20 school year, state expenditures totaled $9.0 million, including $4.0 million for school district liaisons and $2.1 million for CMHCs.

Participating School Districts

During the first year of the Program, there were a total of 9 participating school districts, serving 82 schools.

Using the authority provided in 2019 House Sub. for SB 25, the State Board expanded the Program for FY 2020. The Program served students in 180 schools in 32 school districts during the 2019-2020 school year.

According to information provided by KSDE, the Program will serve 232 schools in 56 school districts during the 2020-21 school year.

The tables on the following pages include a list of all school districts participating in the Program during the 2021-21 school year, along with the total state aid requested for each school district.

Mental Health Intervention Team Program
2020-2021 Applications

USD	District	County	Total Budget Request – School Liasons	State Aid Request – School Liasons	State Aid Recommended for School Districts	State Aid Request – Mental Health Provider	Total State Aid Request
204	Bonner Springs*	Wyandotte	185,000	138,750	138,750	46,250	185,000
233	Olathe*	Johnson	145,656	109,242	109,242	36,414	145,656
239	North Ottawa Co.	Ottawa	59,680	44,760	44,760	14,920	59,680
255	South Barber*	Barber	46,000	34,500	34,500	11,500	46,000
259	Wichita	Sedgwick	1,733,601	1,300,201	1,300,201	1,049,031	2,349,232
262	Valley Center	Sedgwick	121,420	91,065	91,065	30,355	121,420
266	Maize	Sedgwick	119,337	89,503	89,503	29,834	119,337
270	Painville	Rooks	26,963	20,222	20,222	6,741	26,963
271	Stockton*	Rooks	26,899	20,174	20,174	6,725	26,899
272	Waconda*	Mitchell	14,312	10,734	10,734	3,578	14,312
282	West Elk*	Elk	62,320	46,740	46,740	15,580	62,320
286	Chautauqua County	Chautauqua	61,456	46,092	46,092	15,364	61,456
293	Quinter*	Gove	84,654	63,491	63,491	21,164	84,655
305	Salina	Saline	372,000	279,000	279,000	93,000	372,000
306	Southeast of Saline	Saline	56,998	42,748	42,748	14,249	56,997
307	Ell Saline*	Saline	46,000	34,500	34,500	11,500	46,000
309	Nickerson*	Reno	52,194	39,145	39,145	13,048	52,193
310	Fairfield	Reno	43,713	32,785	32,785	10,928	43,713
311	Pretty Prairie	Reno	54,799	41,099	41,099	13,700	54,799
323	Rock Creek*	Pottawatomie	55,750	41,813	41,813	13,938	55,751
329	Wabaunsee County	Wabaunsee	51,530	38,648	38,648	12,883	51,531
337	Royal Valley*	Jackson	26,040	19,530	19,530	6,510	26,040
349	Stafford	Stafford	59,919	44,939	44,939	14,980	59,919
382	Pratt	Pratt	70,016	52,512	52,512	17,504	70,016
383	Manhattan	Riley	153,164	114,873	114,873	38,291	153,164
402	Augusta	Butler	81,260	60,945	60,945	20,315	81,260
413	Chanute*	Neosho	66,965	50,224	50,224	16,741	66,965
435	Abilene	Dickinson	105,282	78,961	78,961	109,088	188,049
438	Skyline	Pratt	50,936	38,202	38,202	12,734	50,936
445	Coffeyville*	Montgomery	60,000	45,000	45,000	15,000	60,000
446	Independence	Montgomery	98,896	74,172	74,172	24,724	98,896
447	Cherryvale	Montgomery	55,565	41,674	41,674	13,891	55,565
453	Leavenworth	Leavenworth	54,495	40,871	40,871	13,624	54,495
457	Garden City	Finney	81,077	60,808	60,808	55,500	116,308
461	Neodesha	Wilson	60,774	45,580	45,580	15,193	60,773
462	Central of Burden*	Cowley	48,591	36,443	36,443	12,148	48,591
484	Fredonia	Wilson	135,612	101,709	101,709	33,903	135,612
489	Hays	Ellis	139,056	104,292	104,292	34,764	139,056
490	El Dorado	Butler	113,560	85,170	85,170	28,390	113,560
500	Kansas City	Wyandotte	1,122,786	842,090	842,090	280,697	1,122,787
501	Topeka	Shawnee	565,921	424,441	424,441	208,000	632,441
503	Parsons	Labette	78,500	58,875	58,875	48,000	106,875
506	Labette County*	Labette	57,500	43,125	43,125	14,375	57,500
332	Cunningham*	Kingman	55,744	41,808	41,808	13,936	55,744
	Total Aid Requested Statewide			$5,071,456		$2,519,010	$7,590,466

Mental Health Intervention Team Program
2020-2021 Applications

M.D. No.	Membership District (M.D.)	County	S.D. No.	Sponsoring District (S.D.)	County
240	Twin Valley	Ottawa	239	N. Ottawa Co. (240)	Ottawa
403	Otis-Bison	Rush	271	Stockton	Rush
291	Grinnell Public Schools	Gove	293	Quinter (291, 292, 274, 275, 468)	Gove
292	Wheatland	Gove	293	Quinter (291, 292, 274, 275, 468)	Gove
274	Oakley	Logan	293	Quinter (291, 292, 274, 275, 468)	Gove
275	Triplains	Logan	293	Quinter (291, 292, 274, 275, 468)	Gove
468	Healy Public Schools	Lane	293	Quinter (291, 292, 274, 275, 468)	Gove
312	Haven Public Schools	Reno	311	Pretty Prairie (312)	Reno
393	Solomon	Dickinson	435	Abilene (393, 473, 487)	Dickinson
473	Chapman	Dickinson	435	Abilene (393, 473, 487)	Dickinson
487	Herington	Dickinson	435	Abilene (393, 473, 487)	Dickinson
511	Attica	Harper	332	Cunningham (511)	Kingman