Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved redirecting $27,500 in funds that were set aside for HeadQuarters Kansas’ suicide prevention efforts to a different agency.
HQ has seen a good deal of turnover and conflict between staff and the board of directors in recent months.
“Since January of 2024, leadership and staff turnover at Headquarters Kansas has created significant disruption and uncertainty regarding future operation of the Douglas County Crisis Line, dispatch of the Bert Nash mobile response team, and leadership of the Zero Suicide Initiative in Douglas County,” according to a memo in the meeting agenda.
The $27.5K is intended to fund a portion of the Zero Suicide Coordinator position. The role is in charge of furthering work on the Zero Suicide initiative, which, in Douglas County, aims to create a safer systemwide approach to suicide care between health care organizations.
County staff members were notified in May that HQ staff members who had led the work for the past five years were no longer employed there, according to the agenda.
“Headquarters has failed to provide the necessary supporting documents, including a scope of work, budget, and personnel schedule, to execute a service agreement to complete this work in 2024,” according to the agenda. “To staff’s knowledge, none of the proposed deliverables for Zero Suicide were achieved in the first six months of 2024.”
Bob Tryanski, director of behavioral health projects for the county, told commissioners that Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health will likely be able to leverage the $27,500 in funding that covers a portion of the position in order to get further grants.
“It’s not completely on hold, but there has been a leadership vacuum,” he said of the Zero Suicide work. Partners in the implementation have not been convening as they normally would, he said.
LDCPH Executive Director Jonathan Smith told commissioners that the department is able to cover 40% of the cost of the position and hopes to have that person start pretty soon.
He said LDCPH currently has a small grant for Zero Suicide, but it’s for the education and not necessarily for a position. He said there is a risk that there might not be grants available next year, but the commission would not be tied to paying for the position next year with their vote Wednesday.
Fortunately, the county has seen statistics shift in the right direction, Tryanski said, though he didn’t provide exact numbers and emphasized that one suicide is one too many.
HeadQuarters Kansas’ funding from the state was in jeopardy, though HQ received confirmation last month from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services that it is eligible for state funding for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The organization does not have an executed contract with Douglas County thus far for 2024, but the county has received a budget request from HQ for the second half of the year, Tryanski said.
Ruby Johnson, who has served as interim executive director of HQ since April, was in attendance at the meeting as a member of the public and gave public comment on the agenda item.
Johnson said that in a “deeply needed time of transformation, growth and course correction,” a phrase you often hear at HeadQuarters is “It takes all of us to care for each of us.”
And “In the spirit of all of us caring for each of us, and in my role at HeadQuarters, I would be very pleased to see this role implemented at Douglas County Public Health,” Johnson said, “because, if nothing else, at the end of the day, that is another partner for us to continue our important work here in the county and as a statewide suicide prevention agency.”
Commissioners unanimously approved shifting the funding. The funds were already in the budget for this year. What is changing is who will receive them.
Their approval does not necessarily mean that they will continue funding the position in 2025, they clarified.
“I’m pleased, again, also, to hear the collaboration, and the putting the mission above anybody’s territory,” Commission Chair Karen Willey said. “I really like to hear that very much. It shows a lot for our community.”
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Get mental health help in Lawrence
These resources are available 24/7 if you or someone you know needs immediate mental health help:
• Douglas County Treatment and Recovery Center: 785-843-9192; 1000 W. Second St., Lawrence, Kansas; trcdgks.org
• Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center: 785-843-9192; bertnash.org
• HeadQuarters Kansas: 785-841-2345; hqkansas.org
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Dial 988; veterans, press 1
• SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator and Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
More coverage: HeadQuarters Kansas
Douglas County Commission approves moving $27.5K to health department for suicide prevention work
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
