Celebrating 3 Years of the Treatment & Recovery Center
- Bert Nash Center
- 23 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
Today, April 10, our community marks an important milestone: three years since the Treatment & Recovery Center of Douglas County (TRC), operated by the Bert Nash Center, opened its doors.
As a core program of the Bert Nash Center, the TRC reflects our values of compassion, integrity, equity, and a foundation of hope. With a team of approximately 92 professionals, including behavioral health specialists, case managers, peer support specialists, therapists, registered nurses, APRNs, and a Medical Director, the TRC is built on a shared commitment to providing purposeful, person-centered care to every individual who seeks support.
What began as a vision to create a safe, trauma-informed alternative for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis has become a critical, trusted resource for Douglas County. As the first licensed Crisis Intervention Center (CIC) in Kansas, the TRC is helping shape a new approach to crisis care. One centered on dignity, access, and keeping people connected to their community.
“The TRC exists because our community believed in it and because our crisis system partners worked tirelessly to build the state’s first center of its kind. We are grateful for the TRC staff, whose compassion and expertise not only save lives, but also help people move toward hope and healing. The Treatment & Recovery Center exists to bridge a vital gap in our continuum of crisis care for community members in need of acute mental health or substance use intervention.” said Douglas County Commission Chair Shannon Reid.
The TRC has grown into a critical access point for care, meeting people in some of life’s most difficult moments.
“In just three years, over 3,700 community members have walked through the doors of the TRC. Behind that number is a story, one held in both the data and the lives it represents. It is measured in the parent who had somewhere to turn at 2 a.m., the first responder who had an alternative to the emergency room or jail, and the community member who received care at the right moment. In 2018, Douglas County made a choice to fund the TRC through the behavioral health sales tax. Every one of these stories reflects a community choosing compassion. We are proud of that choice, and we remain committed to leading through change.” said County Commissioner Erica Anderson.
"At KDADS, we have watched the Treatment & Recovery Center of Douglas County become a cornerstone of the region’s behavioral health system over the last three years. By supporting over 9,900 crisis episodes and achieving full CIC licensure in 2025, the TRC has fundamentally changed how the community responds to mental health needs. Their success in reducing state hospital admissions by 70% proves that local, immediate intervention is the gold standard for Kansas. We are proud to support their mission and celebrate the profound impact they’ve made on families throughout Douglas County." said Andy Brown, Deputy Secretary of Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS).
In 2025 alone, the TRC responded to 3,590 crisis encounters and served 1,612 individuals, with an average wait time of just 18 minutes to be seen. As demand for crisis services has grown, so has the TRC’s ability to respond with both capacity and quality. In the same year, the team completed a record 330 comprehensive state screenings, ensuring more individuals received standardized, evidence-based assessments while reducing the need for higher levels of care. Even with increased demand, outcomes remain strong. Sixty-one percent of individuals who began on involuntary holds did not require transfer to a higher level of care, and 95% of clients were able to safely return to the community, which demonstrates the power of providing care close to home. These numbers reflect more than access, they represent timely, compassionate care when it matters most.
“While most individuals who come through the TRC are able to return to the community, the work continues beyond stabilization,” said Kristin Vernon, Bert Nash Center interim TRC director. “The focus remains on connecting each person to ongoing care and support which ensures they have what they need not just to recover, but to thrive.”
A Community Effort
The success of the TRC is rooted in strong community partnership. From law enforcement and first responders to healthcare providers, this work has always been shared, and these voices reflect what that impact looks like across Douglas County.
“We’re proud to celebrate the Treatment and Recovery Center as it marks three years of life-changing impact. As pioneers in this work in the state of Kansas, they are turning moments of crisis into pathways for recovery—ensuring that the worst moment in someone’s life doesn’t define their future while supporting families and strengthening the entire community. Together, through this partnership and the broader crisis system, we’re building something that’s trusted, collaborative, and truly centered on the people we serve—and we look forward to what the future brings.” — Sonya N. Baeza, Douglas County Deputy Emergency Communications Center Director
“Having had the good fortune to be a law enforcement officer in this area for the past 37 years, I have been able to witness firsthand the evolution of the crisis system and specifically the TRC/MRT [Mobile Response Team]. I can’t overstate the benefit the TRC and MRT has been to the law enforcement community. What the TRC and MRT are providing has helped fill the gap in getting emergent mental and physical health to the people in crisis that really need it without delay. I am so very thankful to be a partner with the TRC and MRT and everything they have brought to the Douglas County community.” — Chief Mike Patrick, Baldwin City
“The TRC is one example I point to on why I love this community so much. In Douglas County, we put our money where our mouth is. In this case with support of the taxpayers, we got to work building something unlike anything else in the state or region. TRC is a shining light within our community where advocates and providers came together… to create a local resource for our community members who were falling through the crack.” — Sheriff Jay Armbrister
“The TRC is a game changer for the Lawrence Police Department. To have a place that will receive someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis from one of our officers is, first of all, an incredible resource… As if this wasn’t enough, the staff at the TRC work hard to get your officers back on patrol in less than five minutes. Their original goal was 10 minutes, and they smashed this goal almost immediately. Compare this to driving more than an hour for inpatient care or waiting several hours for a medical clearance in the ED [emergency department], you can see the value. Freeing up officers to focus on keeping our community safe is so important and the TRC does this for your police department every hour of every day. Thank you TRC for making the lives of not only police officers better but also the lives of those who need your specialized service. Our community is so much better because of the work you all do.” — Chief Rich Lockhart, Lawrence Police Department
“The TRC has played an instrumental role helping some of our most frequent EMS patients achieve healthier, happier, and more stable lives.”
— John Darling, Division Chief of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical
“The TRC is an important LMH partner as we both work to support community members experiencing a mental health, substance use, or suicide crisis. The percentage of ED [emergency department] visits specific to behavioral health crisis has reduced the past few years. We know this is due, in part, to TRC’s ability to serve people who would have otherwise walked through our doors four years ago. Behavioral health crisis work is hard. We appreciate our shared commitment to continually improve the work we do together to serve our community.” — Sandra Dixon, Director, Behavioral Health Integration at LMH Health
Located at 1000 W. Second St. in Lawrence, the TRC is open 24/7, 365 days a year. No appointment is necessary. For more information, go to www.trcdgks.org
