Posted By: George Lawson January 11, 2021 @ 10:32 am Local News, News
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is submitting an executive reorganization order to state lawmakers to combine the Department for Children and Families and the Department for Aging and Disability Services into one agency.
The new agency will be called the Kansas Department of Human Services.
The governor said creating the agency will ensure that Kansas families and individuals have easier access to critical services. She said it will improve engagement between service centers, clients and local stakeholders by creating a single point of entry for a variety of needs.
Programs in the new agency will include:
On the outskirts of Osawatomie, Kanas sits the Asylum Bridge, abandoned and closed to vehicles for 6 decades. It once was the final crossing for those committed to the Kansas State Insane Asylum.
Located southwest of Kansas City, the Osawatomie State Hospital was first established in 1855. While mental health care is still provided on the site, many of the ornate, and some say haunted, original buildings of the complex are either unbonded or demolished.
The Asylum Bridge once connected 1st Street over the Marais Des Cygnes River. Today the road is closed in both directions but it s still possible to walk up to the crossing.