By Stephen Koranda, Kansas Public Radio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-980002.mp3
LAWRENCE, Ks. – A top official at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services says he will urge district court judges to reduce the number of people sent to state mental hospitals. The state hospitals are frequently over capacity, and some mental health advocates say there would be few other options for people needing mental health services.
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Judges can send people to one of the three state mental hospitals if the judge believes a person is a danger to themselves or others.
A deputy secretary at SRS, Pedro Moreno, told a gathering of mental health workers last week, that he'll ask a judge to slow the number of offenders sent to state hospitals.
He said the facilities should not be forced to take more than their budgets can handle.
David Johnson is CEO of Burt Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence. He says if the courts can't send people to state hospitals, then there are almost no other places they can go.
"With this sort of attitude that, 'hey, we can't deal with them in the appropriate inpatient setting. They're just going to have to either be in the public or in jail' - dangerous situation I think for the citizens of Kansas."
Johnson says many hospitals have stopped offering inpatient mental health services, and only one community mental health center offers inpatient services in Kansas.
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