By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
TOPEKA — Angela Hagen is no longer managing mental health policy at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Her last day with the agency was Friday.

A department spokesperson declined to say if Hagen was fired or resigned.

“All I can do is give you her dates of employment,” said Angela de Rocha, director of communications at KDADS. “She was here – at SRS – from 2001 until last Friday.”

SRS refers to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which, after a reorganization in 2012, was divided between KDADS and the new Department for Children and Families.

De Rocha said Gina Meier-Hummel, KDADS commissioner of community services and programs, could handle calls to the agency dealing with mental health issues.

Hagen represented the department in several initiatives, including its redesign of the Rainbow Mental Health Facility in Kansas City, coordination of the Governor’s Mental Health Task Force and development of a regional approach to providing services in community-based settings rather than jails and inpatient psychiatric units.

On Monday, several mental health advocates declined comment on Hagen’s exit.

But Rick Cagan, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Kansas, said, “We’re concerned about the continuity of leadership for behavioral health (at KDADS) and would like to know if the change in leadership represents a shift in strategic direction for the department.”