By Kansas Public Radio
Lawrence, KS – The Kansas Neurological Institute (KNI) serves some 150 profoundly disabled adults. If the Kansas Legislature approves the proposal, the facility would be closed gradually. The entire process could take as long as three years, according to Bill Miskell, who's with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
"The sense, i think, out there is that the plan is to just take the people who are at KNI and put them put out into something in the community - and for them to receive lesser services in the community," Miskell says. "And that is not the proposal at all."
Miskell says the facility's closure would occur as all the people it serves are transitioned into equal or better care offered by other organizations. If the closure takes place, some private groups may be called upon to step in with services.
Miskell says the incoming administration is following the advice of a panel that studied closing one of the state's two facilities for the developmentally disabled.
The move to close KNI, which is located in Topeka, is being opposed by members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation.