photo by: Treatment & Recovery Center

The Treatment & Recovery Center at 1000 W. Second Street is pictured.

Douglas County commissioners at their Wednesday meeting will consider hiring an outside expert to dive into the finances and operations of the county’s new Treatment and Recovery Center, which provides mental health services for people in need.

The outside review would come at a time when Douglas County and leaders with the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center — the nonprofit that runs the day-to-day operations of the county-owned TRC — have been disagreeing on how much Bert Nash should be paid to run the center.

Douglas County and the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center already have collaborated with Dr. Margie Balfour and MultiPass Consulting to develop a scope of work and timeline to implement a comprehensive review of the Treatment & Recovery Center. The proposed project will not exceed the cost of $98,900.

The purpose of the review is to help inform the development of a new contract for the TRC and the county’s 2027 budget process. The scope of work includes a data review in January, a three-day site visit in February and a series of meetings and interviews with Bert Nash leadership and staff, key community stakeholders, law enforcement and first responders and other experts associated with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, Medicaid and more.

The first phase of the project is expected to run from January through March, and a memo will be completed to summarize early findings of initial interviews and the site visit. Bert Nash and MultiPass have indicated that they would like to return to the County Commission at the end of the phase to report early findings, according to a memo in the agenda.

The second phase will focus on putting together a final report with an analysis and recommendations, which is estimated to be completed in May. The analyses and recommendations will include an operational and staffing analysis, a financial sustainability analysis, and a system integration analysis, the memo said.

County staff and Bert Nash have been pushing for a comprehensive review of the TRC to get started after county commissioners decided to defer an additional funding request for the facility’s 2026 operations until a review is completed.

As the Journal-World reported, Bert Nash came to commissioners in December 2025 with a $1 million funding request 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.

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, commissioners reserved $1 million for crisis system contingency funding in 2026. The $1 million is not specific to Bert Nash or any other organization.

County staff recommended to commissioners to delay action on awarding any additional funding until the external and operational review of the TRC was completed and staff could consider implementation of the findings and recommendations of that report with Bert Nash staff.

The memo in the agenda said after phase one of the project is complete, Bert Nash can approach the County Commission for consideration of additional 2026 operating funds for the TRC.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS WILL:

• Elect a new chair and vice chair of the Douglas County Commission for 2026. The current chair is Commissioner Patrick Kelly and the vice chair is Commissioner Shannon Reid.

• Hear an update on the Kansas Legislature, who began their 2026 legislative session on Jan. 12. Little Government Relations will provide an update regarding activities to date and areas that may be of interest for Douglas County to monitor in the coming weeks.

• Consider signing a letter of consent for the ownership of Hamm Landfill to be transferred to Allied Waste Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. waste disposal company Republic Services. Douglas and Jefferson counties have maintained a long-standing partnership with the landfill for solid waste management, and the new assignment requires consent from both parties.

Douglas County is currently undertaking an update to its waste management plan, as required by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The updated plan will incorporate public input from a survey, include a review of prior agreements to ensure the county is aligned with current regulatory requirements and establish long-term solid waste management goals. The plan will be presented to the County Commission for consideration and approval in the coming months, according to a memo in the agenda.

• Consider authorizing the Public Works department to solicit bids for dust control chemicals for rock roads and to continue the user fee dust control program for 2026, with a user fee not to exceed $1.65 per linear foot, an administrative fee of $60.00 per application, and a late fee of $15.00 per application.

The County Commission’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.