PITTSBURG, Kan. — The University of Kansas Medical Center has announced that a federal grant of nearly $9 million will fund a new program, known as KanAWARE, aimed at addressing escalating student behavioral health needs in Southeast Kansas.
The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Center for Mental Health Services in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will go towards the new multi-agency project that aims to address these needs in 11 Southeast Kansas counties representing the state’s communities most at risk for poverty, violence, trauma, substance use and mental health concerns.
The principal investigator for KanAWARE is Eve-Lynn Nelson, Ph.D., a professor and child psychologist at KU School of Medicine. “We have never faced a time of greater student behavioral health needs, matched with community innovation to meet these needs,” she said.
KanAWARE, supported by the SAMHSA Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) funding opportunity, will combine the efforts of government agencies, schools, health care providers, social services and advocacy organizations to improve K-12 student mental health through evidence-based interventions, according to a KUMC press release.
Rural school communities face long-standing health disparities and unmet behavioral health needs that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said. KanAWARE will integrate school-based community health workers into the behavioral health approach to support students and their families.
“We are excited to be part of the coalition of agencies working on this grant project,” said Andy Brown, behavioral health services commissioner for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). “This project will help establish a sustainable infrastructure for promoting behavioral health in schools.”
The project will be a collaboration among KU Medical Center, KDADS, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHCSEK), DCCCA, Inc., Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters, Families Together, Inc., Greenbush Education Service Center, Four County Mental Health Center and the Kansas Unified School Districts of Coffeyville, Pittsburg and Fort Scott, along with the Unified School District of Eldon, Missouri.
Delivering mental health services through school districts is a key part of KanAWARE, and one that will make a tremendous difference for Kansas students, according to the release.
“Ensuring mental health services and training are available to every student and educator across Kansas is critical to the education process,” said Shanna Bigler, KSDE coordinator of school mental health. “By being able to access services within the school, we’re able to decrease absenteeism and increase learning.”
“We value our partnership with KU Medical Center over the last five years and its impact in meeting the behavioral and other health care needs of our students and families,” said Craig Correll, Ed.D., superintendent of Coffeyville USD 445 schools. “We are excited to continue this partnership as it expands through the AWARE funding.”
KanAWARE is an expansion of the Telehealth ROCKS (Regional Outreach for Communities, Kids and Schools) program in the pediatrics department at KU School of Medicine. Telehealth ROCKS is a school-based tele-behavioral health program, established in 2015, that provides services across specialties (e.g., psychology, psychiatry, developmental medicine, applied behavior). The program provides a comprehensive approach to children’s needs, including education, health and social services, according to the release.
“Our Telehealth ROCKS team and partners are grateful for KanAWARE funding to extend our strongest, evidence-supported behavioral health strategies and to set students up for success now and in the future,” Nelson said.
