Kansans struggle with access to mental health care But the state is retooling its coverage

TOPEKA, Kansas — Sherie Keegan would have adopted a child from the Kansas foster care system, but the girl’s mental health needs were too much. Keegan worried whether the help she needed to care for such a troubled child could be found near Paola, Kansas. “I was begging, I was pleading, I was doing absolutely everything that I could,” she said. “I reached out everywhere and anywhere I could.” Keegan would spend hours in the emergency room with the child. Eventually, she let the child move on to her next placement, hoping a different part of the state would have…