Community Based Services
Our services extend beyond the physical Bert Nash Center so that we can meet people where they are to help them build local support networks and assist those who are ready to re-integrate themselves back into the community.
Community based services expand access to our clients to meet needs that are better served outside of our physical locations. Community integration and community-based services offer opportunities to build natural supports in environments that may be more comfortable, familiar, and/or accessible to you, your loved one, client, or family member. These services can involve interaction with someone with lived experience of the mental health system who can offer understanding and guidance to assist you in living more independently and healthfully or connecting you with other community organizations within our network.
For Children & Families
WRAP provides Wellness, Resources, Access & Prevention. For more than 25 years, the WRAP Program has been providing therapeutic and supportive services to students throughout Douglas County. WRAP has always been a program focused on the wellbeing of students, providing services to help students stay in school and be successful. In 2022, the WRAP program more closely aligned our core values of the program with the services we offer. This means that WRAP therapists primarily focus their work on therapeutic interventions and services that utilize their professional skills to provide students with high quality therapeutic services. In addition, the WRAP program has added case managers to the team. These case managers work exclusively with students served by the WRAP program and offer additional support to students.
WRAP services is in 19 Douglas County schools in Lawrence, Baldwin City, Eudora, and Perry-Lecompton. In Lawrence, the WRAP team is divided following district boundary lines for the two high schools.
WRAP therapeutic services included:
Therapy | Case Management |
Individual | Student support in the school setting |
Group | Resource coordination |
Family | Family support |
Crisis Intervention | |
The Referral Process Students are referred to the WRAP Therapeutic Program through the mental health team at the school they attend. Teachers, parents, school counselors and others are able to ask the school mental health team to consider whether or not a student is appropriate for WRAP services. Once a referral is made, the WRAP Therapist, Case Manager or Bert Nash staff will reach out to the student and their family to begin the process of setting up services. Privacy All students who work with WRAP Therapists are served as clients of Bert Nash Center and therefore, all of the privacy protections that come with that service apply. WRAP Therapists will only share information with the schools with parent/guardian permission through a formal release of information. Through this process, parents/guardians are able to specify what information can be shared.
Mental health respite care is a system of services offering a temporary break between a caregiver and their loved one.
Provided by individuals trained in crisis stabilization skills and can provide in-home supervision and add daily structure for children and adolescents. Attendant care can help reduce parent-child conflicts and help maintain a positive environment by relieving parents of some childcare demands.
Waiver service facilitators guide families through the process of applying for and maintaining Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) supports for families and children through the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS).
Parent support staff provide support to parents, guardians, and families of children who have mental health challenges and to serve as a consultant to the Bert Nash Center with the goal of continuously improving the quality of services to children and families. Grandparents who are raising grandchildren are also welcome to attend.
Case management involves consistent communication and collaboration with your case manager to help you make progress towards the goals you have set together. Case managers can assist with planning, facilitation, care coordination, advocacy, and providing informed choice for your options with services using existing resources.
Using the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, the SEED program offers Supported Employment and Supported Education case management services. Supported employment is a term used to describe programs and services that help individuals with mental health challenges secure and maintain meaningful employment. Supported employment programs assist the individual with everything from the job search to job training and on-site counseling. Supported Education is a psychiatric rehabilitation practice based on proven research principles. The aim of this program is to provide the opportunities, resources, and support to people with psychiatric disabilities so they may gain admittance to and succeed in the pursuit of post-secondary education.
*Special Requirements For Young Adults: must be on the SED waiver and have a clear vocational goal
Peer Support Services is a program offered by the Bert Nash Center for clients who are living with psychiatric symptoms, including symptoms caused by substance misuse/abuse, and would like ongoing help. The purpose of the Peer Support Program is to offer clients support in skill development that helps them manage their psychiatric symptoms. The program matches clients with trained Peer Support Specialists, individuals who have lived experience with mental illness and/or substance abuse and have demonstrated that recovery is possible. The program includes face-to-face meetings or group meetings where the focus is on recovery. Peer Support Specialists are trained as assistants in recovery. They are certified by the State of Kansas and follow a code of ethics that guides their work. The Peer Support Specialists consult with Bert Nash Center case managers and treatment teams and are governed by Bert Nash Center policies.
To determine if you are a good fit for Peer Support services, ask your case manager about a referral.
Using the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, the SEED program offers Supported Employment and Supported Education case management services. Supported employment is a term used to describe programs and services that help individuals with mental health challenges secure and maintain meaningful employment. Supported employment programs assist the individual with everything from the job search to job training and on-site counseling. Supported Education is a psychiatric rehabilitation practice based on proven research principles. The aim of this program is to provide the opportunities, resources, and support to people with psychiatric disabilities so they may gain admittance to and succeed in the pursuit of post-secondary education.
Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT) is a specialized form of case management for individuals who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness and a substance use disorder. IDDT has been shown to work effectively because it helps individuals make progress in their recovery from mental health and substance use problems at the same time. The IDDT program offers groups as well as individual case management. Additionally, individuals can meet with therapists to help them identify what they believe would be most helpful in their recovery.
If you are a Community Support Services (CSS) client and are interested in learning more about IDDT, please ask your case manager or ask to speak with the IDDT team leader.
Transdisciplinary team that includes case managers, registered nurses, therapists, and advanced practice registered nurses as needed. Intensity of services changes based on needs of the person served. Clients must be referred and determined eligible to begin ACT services.
Strengths Based Case Management is a form of case management that engages with clients in the community. It utilizes the principles and tools of the Strengths Perspective, which includes creating a Strengths Assessment. This is used to identify client skills, client strengths, develop goals, and see the resources available to aid with progress toward personal goals. Case Managers can help with community tasks such as coordinating health appointments, advocacy, increasing community interactions, identifying natural supports, exploring housing, completing paperwork for benefit purposes, and accessing community resources.
Behavioral Health Court (BHC) is a specialized court service for people with mental illness who have been charged by Douglas County District Court. The BHC will serve individuals who are charged or arrested and whose mental illness contributed significantly to behaviors that lead to the offense. BHC team members help connect defendants with community support services and reduce criminal involvement of defendants who live with serious mental illness and co-occurring disorders thereby enhancing public health and safety.
Referrals: Prosecutors and defense attorneys, jail staff and treatment providers, police and probation officers, Municipal and District Court Judges can refer potential participants based on eligibility criteria. Potential candidates for the BHC program are screened and enter into the program if the referral is appropriate.
The Bert Nash Center’s (BNC) Forensic Services Program provides access to mental health services for individuals in custody in the Douglas County Correctional Facility. Forensic Services is designed to support the operations of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department Corrections Division staff, Re-Entry staff, and contracted medical service providers to address mental health crises, psycho-pharmacological referrals, interpersonal, daily living, and environmental support issues as needed to enhance the client’s functioning while in custody.
Referrals:
the Forensic Services Program is designed to stabilize clients with identified mental health needs, including psychiatric crises.
Appropriate referrals come from sources in the jail or the community and include:
Initial booking screening indicating positive answers to mental health screening questions
Staff (correctional/medical) referral
Current BNC client identified via medical records review
After-hours crisis intervention by HealthSource Integrated Solutions
LMH Health ED referral
Lawrence Police Department/Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Mental Health Team
Mental Health Co-Responder
BNC’s Crisis Intervention Program
Self-referral via Medical/Mental Health Services Request form
Family members of incarcerated individuals
