Who Is The Ks Secretary Of The Social And Rehabilitation Services
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WHO: Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services
BIO: Hashemite kingdom of jordan was born Nov. eleven, 1952. He grew up in Wichita, graduating from Wichita Heights High School in 1970 and then Wichita State Academy where he earned an undergraduate degree in U.Due south. history and a master'south in political science.
He began his career at SRS in 1976 in the Wichita area office. He worked v years equally an income maintenance worker earlier becoming an income maintenance supervisor. He did that six years. He was personnel managing director for one yr before becoming administrative services chief, a post he held 4 years.
He came to the SRS central office in Topeka in 1992.
There he was director of management operations for mental health and developmental disabilities for seven years and director of operations for children and family services three years. In 2002, he became superintendent at Osawatomie Country Hospital, a job he held three years.
In 2005, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius named him commissioner of the Juvenile Justice Authority. In 2006, he became secretary of SRS, succeeding Gary Daniels. He is married and has two grown children, eight grandchildren.
"I want people to take practiced, easy access to appropriate services," Jordon said. "I want usa to pay a lot of attention to making sure people have a choice, particularly the choice of living in the customs if they'd rather non be in an institution."
RESPONSIBILITIES: Jordan oversees more than than 5,500 employees and a $1.5 billion annual budget. SRS provides or purchases services for the poor, mentally ill, blind and disabled. The department runs iii country hospitals for the mentally ill; two for the developmentally disabled. Information technology oversees the state'due south foster care, family unit preservation and adoption contracts. Its workers investigate reports of child abuse and fail.
Other responsibilities include: Substance abuse treatment and recovery, child back up enforcement, food stamps, weatherization, utility-nib assistance, refugee aid. Until last yr, SRS administered the country'southward Medicaid programs. Well-nigh of these responsibilities now lie with the Kansas Health Policy Authority. Hashemite kingdom of jordan is a non-voting member of the health policy authorization board.
These aren't the best of times for SRS:
• The agency is short-staffed — only about 5,500 of its 6,100 positions are filled.
• A series of ongoing federal audits are expected to trigger major changes in the land's mental wellness, kid welfare, and health care systems.
• The number of children living in poverty is increasing. Contempo data testify that 15.6 percent of the state's children were poor in 2004; 17.8 percent in 2005. As the number of children in poverty increases, social workers' workloads likewise increase.
• More than than i,300 people with developmental disabilities are on waiting lists for services.
• The country's mental health advocates have warned that without more in-patient beds, the community mental wellness system will unravel.
"He's in a difficult position in a hard time," said Robert Harder, a erstwhile SRS secretary. "He's going to accept to promote programs that are non physical. By that I mean: We know how to measure out things like building a car, but nosotros don't know how to measure things similar the well-being of a kid in foster intendance or a unmarried mom who has access to solar day care and a task. Information technology won't be easy."
INTERCONNECTS: SRS deals closely with various other state and federal agencies including:
• Federal — U.S. Department on Wellness and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Administration on Children and Families, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Assistants.
• Land — Kansas Health Policy Authority, Department of Corrections, Department of Health and Environment, Juvenile Justice Authorization.
The agency's major contractors are
• Kansas Payment Center, processing child support checks;
• Community mental health centers
• Customs developmental disability organizations
• Foster care and adoption contractors: KVC Behavioral Healthcare, The Farm Inc. United Methodist Youthville, and St. Francis Academy.
CONTACT: Phone: 785-296-3271
Email: promise@srs.ks.gov
Address: 915 SW Harrison, sixth floor, 66612-1354
Sources: Don Jordan, SRS
Who Is The Ks Secretary Of The Social And Rehabilitation Services,
Source: https://www.khi.org/news/article/whos-who-don-jordan
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