KU SOCIAL WORKERS PROVIDE HELP & HOPE FOR WESTERN KANSAS
Born and raised in western Kansas, Christina Boyd loves her home on the plains, with its breathtaking sunsets and wide-open spaces. But it’s the hard-working, resilient people of the frontier she appreciates most. She likes how they look out for each other and lend a hand when someone’s in need. Boyd has also seen that living in this part of the state can come at a high cost when you need medical, mental, or behavioral health care. There are too few providers, too far away. This lack of access to care is taking its toll.
For example, Boyd sited the high teen suicide rate in Ford County, where Dodge City is located. More than a third of the
students in Ford County revealed in the 2019 Kansas Communities that Cares Student Survey* that they had felt so sad or hopeless, they had stopped doing their usual activities, up from 31 percent in 2018. In 2019, nearly 4 percent of students reported they had tried to kill themselves, up from 2.85 percent in 2018. The state average is 1.92 percent. “The need to address this is staggering,” says Boyd, LSCSW, LCAC. As the partnership sites director for the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Western Kansas Master of Social Work program, she is working hard to increase the number of social workers in western Kansas who have the quality of education and experience required to serve the growing needs in the region.
SOCWEL.KU.EDU Christina Boyd, Partnership Sites Director christinab@ku.edu | 970-567-2722
Boyd has also seen that living in this part of the state can come at a high cost when you need medical, mental, or behavioral health care. There are too few providers, too far away. This lack of access to care is taking its toll.