They traveled from communities across Kansas and met in individual groups within a large room at Topeka State Hospital. Those from Abilene included the sheriff, teachers, neighbors, and professionals from the local mental health agency and the local Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) office.

Other communities represented at the meeting were Manhattan, Lecompton, Topeka, and Michigan Valley. The groups came together with families to begin planning for the needs of children who will soon be leaving Topeka State Hospital and returning to these communities.

This planning process is a cooperative venture between Topeka State Hospital, the Kansas State Board of Education, the SRS Commission of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, and Keys for Networking, a family advocacy organization based in Topeka.

Randy Proctor, superintendent of Topeka State Hospital, called it a major, concentrated effort by all parties involved" to provide what the children with serious emotional disabilities need in to return to their homes and communities. With closure of the state hospital set for not latter than December 31, 1997, Keys for Networking is helping to coordinate and provide training in an effort to make sure children receive the supports they need to live at home.

This process began when hospital staff identified five children who, with the right support in place, were almost ready to return to their homes. The next step involved working with the children's family and community to create of a set of services that wrap around" the child, allowing the family to remain whole with the children at home. In the process, the family identified the services and supports they needed and worked with community agencies to determine how the services can be provided.

As work on building services for the first group of children continues, another similar-sized group of children will be identified and the planning process begun anew.

We believe in wraparound," said Jane Adams, executive director of Keys for Networking. We had about 100 people for the first session. Abilene brought 27 people -- the sheriff, SRS staff, teachers, neighbors, mental health professionals. Somebody else brought the school superintendent. For a whole day, everyone helped design what it would take for these kids to live at home."

Adams addressed planning that occurred involving a 7-year-old Manhattan-area girl who has been hospitalized several times, including one recent stay of more than a year. She said by bringing representatives of the school system and the local mental health agency together, cooperative funding mechanisms were created to meet the needs of the child in the community.

Adams said the two agencies went together to hire a paraprofessional to help the little girl with schoolwork. The school district purchased a machine to help her with her asthma. And the school also set up a process to make sure the little girl is acquainted with any substitute teacher assigned to her class.

The little girl has difficulty with change," Adams said.

Laura Clark, director of special education for the Manhattan School District, said the planning process for this girl's return to school is the best she has witnessed in her career.

The planning process is excellent," she said.

According to Superintendent Proctor and Adams the process of providing for persons leaving a state institution needed to, and is, changing. They pointed out that in the not too distant past, communities were given little information about children leaving the hospital.

Now we're working with the community to tell the hospital when the community is ready," Adams said. It's called bringing up the capacity of the community."

Proctor said another change involves individualizing services, one family and one child at a time.

The problem was, in the past, what was available was what was provided," he said. So the children got it, whether they needed it or not."

Providing wraparound services reverses this process, Proctor said.

The old way was to look at someone's deficits and find what kind of service we have to fit the deficit," he said. Wraparound means providing individualized services to each kid. It builds on strengths as well as needs.

Plans should be tailored to the specific needs of the child and family," he said. That is also why we need funding and flexibility on how the money is used.

What makes it possible is realization the kid and the family can take greater charge of themselves. We are choosing to emphasize strengths over deficits."

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001