The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) obtained funding from the REACH Healthcare Foundation, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the Missouri Mental Health Transformation Project to evaluate behavioral health needs (mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities) in the region. Health Management Associates (HMA) was hired to carry out the research. For six months, HMA conducted surveys, interviews and focus groups with consumers and providers of health care about behavioral health issues, focusing on the needs of vulnerable members of our community.

HMA’s work included identifying services currently available and gaps in those services; highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the current system; compiling information on national models that could be considered for use in the Kansas City region; and making recommendations for community initiatives that could help meet the community’s needs.

The report, entitled Behavioral Health Needs Assessment for Metropolitan Kansas City provides several key findings, including the

• Need to increase consumer involvement in planning, implementation and evaluation of services,
• Shortage of safe and affordable housing for persons with behavioral health needs,
• Lack of residential services for people who need long-term, residential support, and
• Funding for mental health care is not adequate to meet the need.

An Executive Summary was also created. More information about the project is located at MARC’s website for this initiative:

From 2003-2005 a Mental Health Task Force brought together experts and community members, and commissioned a needs assessment. The research was conducted by staff at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The study was done in three phases:

• Gathering existing information about local needs;
• Collecting new information about unmet needs and underserved groups. Consumers, family members and professionals gave extensive input in surveys, focus groups and community meetings.
• Bringing the first two phases together in an easy-to-use way. Reports were created on some of the most serious concerns found in the needs assessment.

• Co-occurring mental illness and other disorders,
• Persons who are homeless, incarcerated or in shelters,
• Racial and ethnic disparities,
• Special concerns of children and older persons,
• Geography within Jackson County, and
• Cross-cutting issues such as the lack of psychiatric hospital services.
• Summary Report