Davids Announces Funding to Support Youth Mental Health Care at the University of Kansas Medical Center

Today, Representative Sharice Davids announced the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc. will receive $2.48 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve youth mental health through expanded primary care clinician training. This new investment was included in the Davids-supportedBipartisan Safer Communities Act, gun safety and violence prevention legislation that includes significant funding for mental health services across the country. Kansas ranks last in the nation in access to mental health resources.

"I voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to keep our children safe, and that certainly includes making sure Kansas youth have access to life-saving mental health care services," said Davids. "Like me, the University of Kansas Medical Center team understands that mental health is health. I am proud of the work they do to create healthy, resilient communities in Kansas, and am looking forward to the real differences this funding will make here at home."

"Kansas' shortage in mental health experts leaves primary care physicians to fill an increasing gap in pediatric mental health care," said Kari Harris, M.D., co-project director for Addressing Youth Mental and behavioral Health Illness and associate professor of pediatrics for KU School of Medicine-Wichita. "The Addressing Youth Mental and behavioral Health Illness program will provide resources to educate physicians to better identify and manage mental illness in youth and, as important, will integrate the new child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program into pediatric residency training. This process will efficiently use the most expert professionals in child mental health to build a competent and evidence-based workforce in our state."

"The grant will lead to innovations in the KU Wichita pediatric resident curriculum, which will eventually result in an impact on the mental health of Kansas' children and adolescents as these residents complete their training and begin their practice," said Melissa Jefferson, M.D., co-project director for Addressing Youth Mental and behavioral Health Illness and newborn hospitalist.

Davids has focused on improving access to mental health care since taking office. She helped secure funding for mental health programsin Wyandotte and Johnson Counties, and has advocated for stronger mental health supports in schools. She also helped deliver grant funding to local police departments to hire more behavioral health specialists, including the Overland Park Police Department's new Crisis Action Team. She also introducedbipartisan legislation to improve opioid misuse prevention among student athletes and additional legislation to improve mental health supports for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.

Davids encourages Kansans who are struggling or in crisis to call or text the new national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline, 988.

Background:

The award announced today is one of 24 grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) totaling nearly $60 million. The funding supports the integration of mental health training into the training of primary care clinicians, specifically for the mental health treatment of children and adolescents.

KU Medical Center's KU School of Medicine-Wichita houses the Addressing Youth Mental and behavioral Health Illness program and will utilize this new federal funding to train primary care physicians and pediatric residents to screen, identify, diagnose, and treat mental illness in youth and young adults. They'll deliver training with the goal of improving primary care education in trauma-informed care, substance use disorders, and the effects of violence.

Davids voted to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, historic violence prevention legislation, in June 2022. While the legislation primarily focuses on gun-violence prevention, it also contains investments in children and family mental health services that include:

• Supporting national expansion of community behavioral health center model.
• Improving in access to mental health services for children, youth, and families through the Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
• Increasing access to mental health services for youth and families in crisis via telehealth.
• Providing major investments at the Department of Health and Human Services to programs that expand provider training in mental health, support suicide prevention, crisis and trauma intervention and recovery.