MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic congressman is introducing a bill to curb a Defense Department program that provides machine guns and other surplus military equipment for free to local law enforcement agencies across the country.

By KHI NEWS SERVICE

Aug. 13, 2014
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City has awarded $4.25 million in mental health services grants to 34 nonprofit groups in Kansas and Missouri, foundation officials announced Wednesday.

The grants support organizations that provide behavioral health services for children and adults, and work to prevent family violence among the uninsured and underserved.

“HCF is committed to improving access to mental health services through strengthening systems and delivery practices,” said Dr. Bridget McCandless, president and chief executive of the foundation. “We are proud to award these agencies funds to support their efforts in providing behavioral health programs.”

The foundation received 73 proposals totaling about $12.85 million in requests.

Following are details about the awards from the foundation:

Associated Youth Services — $91,509

To facilitate outpatient mental health and psychiatric services for Wyandotte County youth and their families through a collaboration with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

Belton School District — $243,637

To support four mental health therapists who will provide school-based individual and family therapy.

Benilde Hall — $45,648

To provide mental health treatment to mentally ill homeless men.

Child Advocacy Services Center Inc. — $152,700

To help fund a portion of salaries for the clinical staff who deliver clinical remediation services to abused and neglected children in Kansas City.

Child Protection Center Inc. — $155,000

To support the center’s forensic interview and family support programs for victims of child sexual and physical abuse and their families.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services Inc. — $50,000

To support a case manager position to assist individuals in crisis who are unable to access the Emergency Room Enhancement Program.

Crittenton Children’s Center — $81,049

To improve access to evidence-based treatment services for adolescents with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse.

DeLaSalle Education Center — $90,182

To support DeLaSalle’s school-based mental health program that provides therapy, assessment, evaluation, case management and related mental health services for at least 275 students.

First Call Alcohol Drug Prevention and Recovery — $275,000

To help develop trauma-informed and telehealth resources for uninsured individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

Gillis Center Inc. — $140,000

To establish an intake-and-assessment center for children.

Health Partnership of Johnson County — $50,000

To support a behavioral health consultant who will be integrated into primary care teams.

Hope House Inc. — $116,092

To support two adult therapists/addiction counselors, an assessment specialist and other program-related expenses.

Jewish Vocational Service — $100,000

To provide mental health wraparound services for refugee and immigrant communities, families and individuals.

Kansas City CARE Clinic — $200,000

To support the clinic in continuing to offer integrated behavioral health care, including case management, therapy, and psychiatry.

Kansas University Endowment Association — $98,975

To establish the first primary care postdoctoral fellowship for psychologists in the KC area, initiate integrated behavioral health training for family medicine residents, and place psychology interns alongside medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in the Inter-Professional Training Clinic.

KidsTLC Inc. — $200,000

To support start-up costs for the development and implementation of a crisis stabilization and respite unit for children and youth.

Legal Aid of Western Missouri — $130,000

To provide an income for people with mental health issues so they may concentrate on mental health treatment.

Mattie Rhodes Center — $237,697

To support salaries and supplies for the center’s Latino mental health services, which will provide bilingual intake, service coordination, therapy, psychiatry and support.

Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault — $150,000

To provide counseling to nearly 1,000 children and adults.

Midwest Foster Care & Adoption Association — $91,286

To develop family-finding services and divert more children from entering foster care.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Greater Kansas City — $75,000

To provide access and system navigation assistance to people with mental illness and their families.

Niles Home for Children — $63,706

To provide trauma-specific intervention assessments, psychiatric evaluation and follow-up consultations, and other services for urban youth and their families.

Operation Breakthrough Inc. — $103,895

To support personnel and other expenses for a clinical department of one director and seven clinicians who provide individual and group treatment and preventive services to high-risk children and parents/caregivers.

PACES — $100,000

To hire two licensed mental health therapists in year one and a third therapist in year two to develop an expedited referral process to outreach parents, and to provide needed therapy or referrals to other services to for elementary students in Kansas City, Kan.

ReDiscover — $199,578

To support the demand for mental health care by providing startup salary support for clinical and medical professionals.

reStart, Inc. — $135,000

To provide homeless adults, families and unaccompanied youth with on-site, integrated mental health services and referrals to community providers.

SAFEHOME, Inc. — $184,910

To support no-cost, expert mental health services for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Sheffield Place — $77,534

To serve homeless children and their families by empowering them to heal from trauma and improve mental health, family functioning and parenting.

Spofford — $65,000

To provide salary support for seven residential clinical therapists who will offer therapy to children.

Sunflower House, Inc. — $36,539

To support the salary and benefits of one family advocate position to provide ongoing care and support to families with a child recovering from child abuse.

Synergy Services Inc. — $120,000

To support five licensed therapists who will provide clinical care to children.

Children’s Mercy Hospital — $100,000

To provide salary support and creation of a shared, centralized database to reduce family violence and improve physical and mental health.

Tri-County Mental Health Services, Inc. — $175,000

To maintain and enhance behavioral health services for uninsured children and adults living north of the Missouri River in Kansas City, Mo., while integrating services provided by the health care home.

Truman Medical Center — $115,063

To provide access to therapy that will help individuals with complex PTSD develop emotional, behavioral and interpersonal skills needed to engage in treatment.

JIM SALTER, Associated Press
JIM SUHR, Associated Press

FLORISSANT, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says “operational shifts” are ahead for law enforcement in the St. Louis suburb where a police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager.

Nixon spoke Thursday at a meeting of clergy and community members to discuss law enforcement’s response to demonstrations over the killing in the town of Ferguson.

The governor told the audience that “you all will see a different tone.”

He did not elaborate on the changes ahead, but they are likely to be explained at a news conference planned for later in the day.

The governor said he was late to the meeting because he had been on the phone with President Barack Obama, who sent “wishes of peace and justice.”

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Police in Ferguson, Missouri, are defending their use of tear gas and smoke bombs, after another night of chaos in the St. Louis suburb in the aftermath of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Police say officers last night tossed tear gas to disperse a large crowd of protesters after some threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers. More than 10 people were arrested.

A police spokesman says it’s “scary” for officers dealing with the protests — who hear gunshots and “don’t know where they’re coming from.”

But the response is drawing criticism. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says the Justice Department should monitor the way the police are handling the crisis. And President Obama said today that there’s no excuse for the use of excessive force by police there. He also criticized police for taking two reporters into custody.

President Barack Obama says the U.S. has broken Islamic militants’ siege on Iraq’s Sinjar Mountain, but that airstrikes will continue.

Speaking Thursday at Martha’s Vineyard, Obama also said U.S. operations helped thousands of civilians flee down the mountain, and that it’s unlikely that more airdrops of food and water will be needed.

The Islamic State group’s advance in Iraq has driven thousands of people from their homes.

 

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President Obama is on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard.  He will make a statement on the crisis in Iraq and the shooting in Missouri.

 

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Silver Dollar City in Branson is planning an $8 million expansion that will include six new rides.
Officials with the theme park announced Wednesday the four-acre expansion, called Fireman’s Landing, will also include four interactive play zones.

Silver Dollar City General Manager Brad Thomas said the project is one of the largest expansions at the park since it opened in 1960.
The Joplin Globe reports  the project will have a firefighting theme. It will include rides such as the FireFall, an 8-story, free-fall drop ride, and the Fire Spotter, a balloon ride above the park. Other water-based attractions will be the Firehouse Splash Yard and the Fire Drill.
Other rides and areas will be set aside for younger visitors to the park.

FERGUSON (AP) – The hacker group Anonymous has released the name of the person that it says is the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

The Associated Press has not been able to verify the name. Police and prosecutors have declined to name the officer, citing concerns that his life, and the lives of his relatives, could be endangered if his identity is made public.

St. Louis County police and the FBI are investigating the shooting. County prosecutor Bob McCulloch said Wednesday that it could be several weeks before the investigation wraps up and authorities decide whether to charge the officer.

Brown was shot Saturday following a confrontation with the officer. Friends and relatives say he was doing nothing wrong.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Unions representing police officers and firefighters are supporting Democratic challenger Paul Davis in the Kansas governor’s race.

The Davis campaign announced Wednesday that it had received endorsements from the Kansas Fraternal Order of Police and the Kansas State Firefighters political action committee.

Davis is seeking to unseat Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in the Nov. 4 general election.

Brownback’s campaign did not respond immediately to the endorsements for Davis.

The groups said they were supporting Davis because he has a strong record on public safety issues. Davis has served in the Kansas House since 2003 and is its minority leader.

Davis said he’s honored to have the endorsements.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Civil rights activist Al Sharpton is calling on the Department of Justice to monitor how police are responding to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.

The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white Ferguson police officer on Saturday has sparked protests in the St. Louis suburb. Some have turned violent.

On Wednesday night, police in riot gear again used tear gas to disperse protesters after some threw explosive devices and rocks at officers.

Members of Sharpton’s National Action Network and local civil rights leaders are scheduled to meet Thursday with Ferguson police to discuss the police response.

Sharpton says he spoke with St. Louis County Police Chief John Belmar by phone to express his outrage at how the police responded to the protests.

 

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A southwest Missouri man will be sentenced in October for sexually abusing three foster children in his care.

Forty-two-year-old Mark Obrien was found guilty by a Greene County judge Wednesday on several counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and child abuse. He could be sentenced to life in prison.

The Springfield News-Leader reports one of the victims said he was forced to sleep outside at night, without blankets or shelter, and another testified that Obrien said he would never see his mother again if the victim told anyone.

The victims were under the age of 14 at the time of the abuse in 2007 and 2010.

Obrien testified in his own defense and called several character witnesses during the trial.

Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 23.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The federal government says about 1,800 Kansans who chose health insurance through HealthCare.gov could lose their coverage over questions about their citizenship or immigration status.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the 1,800 Kansans had inconsistencies in their citizenship or immigration information when they signed up on the federal health insurance marketplace. The Lawrence Journal-World reports they must send in proof of their legal status by Sept. 5 or they will lose their coverage Sept. 30.

Illegal immigrants are not eligible for tax subsidies offered on the marketplace to help pay for insurance.

More than 57,000 Kansans signed up for insurance during the marketplace’s first open enrollment period, which ended in April.