The state of Kansas says it is willing to offer support, including potentially upwards of $2 million in funding, to help Johnson County tackle issues of homelessness, affordable housing and mental health.
The Good Faith Network, a local interfaith group of 27 religious congregations, helped secure that commitment from the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services and also facilitated a recent meeting between the state aging department commissioner and Johnson County Chair Mike Kelly.
The group has been pressing the county to find solutions to issues around housing, poverty and mental health, including prioritizing the establishment of a mental health crisis stabilization center, which Johnson County currently lacks.
State aging department offers $2M to help homelessness efforts
- At an event dubbed a “solutions briefing” hosted by the Good Faith Network in Olathe on Tuesday, Commissioner Andrew Brown with the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services said he has offered help to Johnson County in developing a comprehensive plan to end homelessness and three years of salary and benefits for a homelessness elimination coordinator.
- Brown also said the state could in funding an “Assertive Community Treatment team,” which aims to help keep people stably housed.
- These efforts combined would cost upwards of $2 million, Brown told the Post following Tuesday’s event.
- “Ultimately, what we want to do is be able to work with the county to develop a plan for what it is that they would like our help to do,” Brown told the Good Faith Network. “Then we can step into that role, provide that assistance, provide them with connections to the expertise that they need to have a good plan.”
County chair says he’s open to more conversations
- Kelly told the Post in an interview Wednesday that his conversation earlier this month with Brown was the first time he had learned about possible assistance the state aging department could provide.
- He pointed out that the money Brown is talking about right now would be a one-time money to help get the county’s homelessness efforts off the ground.
- “I think that we’re always willing to hear about opportunities for sustained funding, not just one time grants, but look forward to learning more about them,” Kelly said.
- Kelly said there is a large appetite to address these issues at the county, and noted the work of Johnson County Mental Health Center and the county’s recent move to hire a housing coordinator.
JoCo doesn’t have a crisis stabilization center
- Johnson County currently uses RSI Crisis in Wyandotte County — or jail or hospitals — to send anyone who needs a temporary place to stay while dealing with a mental health crisis.
- Brown said the state aging department is willing to help Johnson County find a location for such a facility and added that there is the opportunity to use state general funds for such a project.
- As an example, Brown pointed out that the state aging department is on the brink of a $3.1 million annual funding agreement with Douglas County to launch a walk-in crisis center there.
Housing affordability is a broader issue in JoCo
- Dee Ann Heptas, a Good Faith Network member who is a parishioner at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, said that 19% of homeowners and 40% of renters in Johnson County are paying more than they can afford on housing.
- That’s based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of affordable housing, which is when an occupant pays no more than 30% of their gross income for housing and associated costs.
- Heptas said the Good Faith Network’s affordable housing committee is looking into solutions like community land trusts to address the issue.
- “The solution to the problem of the lack of affordable housing in Johnson County exists in creating more affordable housing,” Heptas said. “It’s kind of simple — it is not easy, but it’s kind of simple.”
Good Faith Network’s next event is in May
- The network says it is pushing to get more than 1,200 people at an event they’re calling Nehemiah Action, a reference to a Biblical cup bearer who was compelled to act on a cry of injustice, according to Good Faith Network reference guide.
- That event is scheduled for 6 p.m. on May 2 at Chruch of the Resurrection in Leawood.
- Kelly said he plan to attend the Nehemiah Action event on May 2, and told the Post he is “never shy about having a conversation.”
Go deeper: Johnson County OKs $4M in fed funds to tackle homelessness
