NPAP and the ACLU Help Kansas Make Historic Move to End Nation’s Longest Wait for Inmate Mental Health Treatment

(Topeka, Kansas) This Monday, the Kansas Department of Disability and Aging Services (KDADS) announced a historic settlement with the National Police Accountability Project (NPAP) and the ACLU of Kansas to reduce the wait times for people awaiting competency evaluations and restoration services at Larned State Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility in the state. 

The settlement follows a lawsuit representing three public defenders and a mother, who served as a “next of friend” of a person being held pretrial in jail at the time of filing. Among them was G.W. a Native American man who was incarcerated for 31 months while awaiting competency services for a 6 month sentence. There are dozens of people like G.W. that are languishing in jail because of the waitlist that will have a chance at receiving timely services with the improvements made possible by this settlement. 

“This settlement is more than a legal agreement; it’s a lifeline for those who have been lost in the system, a promise that their dignity and humanity will no longer be ignored,” said Lauren Bonds, NPAP’S executive director. 

In the settlement, KDADS commits to increasing the number of treatment beds available at Larned State Hospital while addressing the chronic understaffing and underfunding that has contributed to the facility running at a limited capacity. By January 2025, KDADS will reopen 30 currently closed beds with best efforts to open 52 additional beds by January 2027.

“This is a huge step in the ongoing work to ensure our state’s detention practices do not criminalize mental health issues,” said Monica Bennett, ACLU of Kansas Legal Director. “Remaining in the jail environment is devastating and deeply harmful even for those whose mental health is not in question, and condemning Kansans to languish across the state in their county jails was contradictory to our values of justice.”

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Photo via flickr from Jimmy Emerson, DVM. Link to original photo here.