photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

From left to right, Chris Kohart with SSC Advisors, Interim CEO of Bert Nash Kirsten Watkins and Bert Nash's Senior Director of Finance Dani Edwards are pictured Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025.

Douglas County commissioners delayed action in awarding $1 million in funding to the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center to support Treatment & Recovery Center operations in 2026.

The request was to support the TRC’s ongoing costs, including staffing, program operations and financial shortfalls from lower-than-expected revenue from Medicaid and other funding sources. And according to a presentation in the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting, Bert Nash’s overall budget shortfall for 2025 is $1,186,692.

As the Journal-World reported, county staff recommended delaying action on the request until an external financial and operational review of the TRC is completed. County staff would like to review the findings with Bert Nash and consider implementation of the findings and recommendations of that report.

During the county commissioners’ budget deliberations for 2026, Bert Nash submitted a funding request of $1,600,000 for the TRC based on a projected revenue gap of $986,600. While the original request was denied due to financial uncertainties at Bert Nash, they reserved $1 million for crisis system contingency funding in 2026.

Interim CEO of Bert Nash Kirsten Watkins said she was opposed to delaying the decision on the funding request. She said originally, the work to do the assessment on the TRC would take months to complete on top of completing the final report.

“We would not be here if we didn’t believe that we needed funding for 2026,” Watkins said. ” … I think it would be fair and appropriate to not make that a barrier to receive the financial support that we need.”

Bert Nash has not yet adopted the consultant to complete the review of the TRC, but Watkins previously told the Journal-World that there have been ongoing discussions with County Administration for months to share concerns about the scope, cost, and staffing resources required for this consultant engagement.

Commissioner Karen Willey said she thinks the County Commission is dedicated to a healthy TRC and a healthy Bert Nash, but she thinks there needs to be time to complete the comprehensive review of the TRC.

“I think that the reason that these funds were set aside at all was because we want to be a part of that process,” Willey said. ” … I think we can work this out in a way that does not impact TRC funding within that but we really need to see it happen.”

Commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding with Bert Nash for a specific project assisting with solvency issues at the organization. The MOU outlines assistance with financial operations from SSC Advisors, an accounting and advisory firm, to help Bert Nash stabilize the organization’s finances.

SSC Advisors began working with Bert Nash in June with finance staff to ensure core financial tracking and reporting functions are operating effectively and producing necessary deliverables. SSC is supporting Bert Nash’s financial staff with budgeting, audit preparation, financial statement reporting and other key tasks. The firm will also provide recommendations for revenue cycle management and help integrate those into the organization’s operations.

The county initially sought to include the external operational review of the Treatment and Recovery Center as well as the search for an executive director for the TRC. However, the memo said, there is “not support at Bert Nash for the review of the TRC or the search for an executive director at this time,” the memo said.

Bert Nash will come back to commissioners in January with an update on setting up an agreement for the comprehensive review of the TRC.

In other business, county commissioners:

• Delayed action on changes to the county’s fund balance policy. The former policy – approved in January 2023 – limited the amount of money that was held in a type of account called a “fund balance,” which operates like a savings account and covers unexpected expenses or rainy day events. The policy said the accounts can’t have fund balances that are more than 25% of their revenues.

The policy commissioners considered on Wednesday, as the Journal-World reported, set minimum targets for fund balances, ranging from 20% to 25% of total operating expenses, and it doesn’t set a cap on those funds. Commissioners Gene Dorsey, Erica Anderson and Karen Willey voted to defer the vote on the item until February, when county staff will bring forward the fund balances for 2025 and year-end transfers for commissioners to consider.

• Approved the 2026 legislative statement – which is the commissioners’ set of priorities and recommendations for the Kansas Legislature. The priorities outline preserving local home rule authority along with improving community health, economic security and infrastructure. Commissioners have also outlined priorities for expanding behavioral health and addiction services, affordable housing and support for vulnerable populations, alongside sustainable growth, renewable energy, and climate resilience among other things.

• Waived a formal bidding process for contracts valued over $100,000 to allow the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center to receive part-time nursing services from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and authorize Pam Weigand, director of criminal justice services, to negotiate a five-year contract with LDCPH totaling an estimated $150,000.

A memo in the agenda said the Juvenile Detention Center requires part-time registered nursing services for state-mandated assessments, tuberculosis testing, and other medical needs, typically 12 hours per week. Historically, LDCPH provided these services, but ended their support in February 2023. VitalCore Health Strategies assumed services in March 2023, with a contract running through December 31, 2025.

Efforts to renew this contract were unsuccessful, as VitalCore declined to renew a contract unless the Juvenile Detention Center services were accepted as part of a proposal to provide services to the Douglas County Correctional Facility as well. LDCPH proposed services for approximately $30,000 a year, including physician services as needed.

• Allocated $62,500 from the commissioners’ contingency line of the 2026 budget to go to the Center for Supportive Communities to continue elementary and middle school truancy services for the period of Jan. 1 through May 31, 2026 to finish out the school year.

A memo in the agenda said the Center for Supportive Communities has been providing student truancy services since 2023 for $150,000 per year. County commissioners set aside this funding for 2026 in the commissioners’ funding contingency line to explore transitioning truancy services to the Youth Services division of Criminal Justice Services.

Since then, Youth Services staff have been developing a framework for providing these services, consulting with local schools, community partners, other state programs, and attending the National Dropout Conference to inform their planning, the memo said. To ensure a smooth transition, staff recommend that the Center for Supportive Communities continue providing services through the Spring 2026 semester, rather than ending mid-school year, to maintain continuity for students.

• Approved an agreement with U.S. Engineering to allow access for grading and other necessary dirt work for a new 110,000-square-foot production facility at 2925 VenturePark Drive in Lawrence VenturePark. The company currently operates a 150,000-square-foot production center in VenturePark employing more than 160 pipefitters and sheetmetal workers. The new facility is expected to create approximately 30 jobs in its first year, growing to about 50 employees. Construction is estimated at $25 million, with completion anticipated by July 2026.

To prepare the site, U.S. Engineering is requesting access to the neighboring parcel at 2925 VenturePark Drive, jointly owned by the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, to complete grading and dirt work.

• Awarded a contract to Bettis Asphalt & Construction Inc. for a mill and overlay project on Route 5, from Route 1039 to Route 442, in a total project amount of $2,835,042 and authorize the county engineer to approve change orders totaling up to 5% of the bid amount.

According to a memo in the agenda, the county’s 2026 budget allocates $1.7 million for road maintenance contracts, with an additional $500,000 per year from the Capital Improvement Plan for asphalt improvement work. Combined, these funds provide $2.2 million annually for pavement maintenance, supplementing mill and overlay projects to extend pavement life. Public Works proposes completing the full project in 2026 using additional CIP funds.