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Dear Sen. Roger Marshall: Medicaid expansion would open doors for rural families, mental health
Hello, Sen. Roger Marshall: I imagine you meet many people as you visit cities across the great state of Kansas. It would be bold of someone to assume that you remember them. I am going to be bold in assuming that you remember me from your visit to the Greater Topeka Partnership office in August. […]
Fixing Kansas’ child welfare system requires the voices of families ‘closest to the pain’
“Those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.” This quote from U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts is the impetus to solving many of the problems faced by Kansans. She meant that policies and laws should be filtered through the experiences of those most affected by them. If they are not capable […]
Words we say and don’t say can make all the difference in understanding fellow Kansans’ lives
I learned something last week. Words matter. A lot. Not just the words we say. The words we don’t say, won’t say or can’t say. They all matter. Why? Because when we use them, things happen. And when we don’t use them? Things happen. I learned something else last week at the Joint Committee on […]
Kansas students shouldn’t have to fix teachers’ mistakes. Grade problems only scratch the surface.
As a college professor, I agree with columnist Eric Thomas’ sentiments about the post-pandemic academic performance of college students. Some students continue to use the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for their lack of progress. I sympathize with their challenges, having lost my older sister and first best friend to the virus in a series […]
Latest attempt to bar diversity training in Kansas harms clinicians and patients
In 2022, Kansas lawmakers rejected diversity training requirements for psychologists because they wanted to avoid any implication of critical race theory. These same rumblings are again being used to justify tampering with critical diagnostic training requirements through a budget proviso. According to a story from the Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Tidd, the proviso creates a “ban […]
Amid youth mental health crisis, Kansas legislators head in wrong direction
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Tara D. Wallace is a licensed clinician and trauma therapist in Topeka. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and […]
Kansas lawmakers axed diversity training plan for psychologists, but the need persists
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Tara D. Wallace is a licensed clinician and trauma therapist in Topeka. The decision of Kansas lawmakers to reject diversity training for psychologists is extremely concerning […]
Pandemic truancy rates reflect technology gap, lack of educational flexibility
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Tara D. Wallace is a licensed clinician and trauma therapist in Topeka. Truancy rates in Shawnee County more than doubled during the 2020-2021 school year. For […]