LB 724
was passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2003 to improve behavioral
health services for thousands of Nebraskans who suffer from
mental illness and substance abuse or other addictive disorders.
It isn’t a bill about doing more studies. It isn’t
about having more meetings and producing more reports. It’s
about true reform, and making a positive difference in the lives
of people.
The bill has the specific intention of reforming the state’s
behavioral health system, and it requires me, as chair of the
Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, to
introduce legislation next year to make that intention a reality.
This is a daunting and overwhelming task, but one that must
be done.
Our current “system” goes back to 1974 when legislation
was passed to create six mental health “regions,”
each with a regional governing board made up of county commissioners
or supervisors. The Department of Health and Human Services
is designated to provide statewide planning and coordination
for the system. The state also owns and operates three state
hospitals, called regional centers, located in Hastings, Norfolk,
and Lincoln, for inpatient mental health and substance abuse
treatment.
The system must do better for the people it’s intended
to serve. LB 724 mandates specific substantive system reforms
to accomplish that goal. Here are just a few of them:
1. Inpatient treatment at our regional
centers should be utilized less, regional center services should
be consolidated, and sufficient community-based services should
be developed to better serve the needs of consumers, in a less
restrictive and more cost-effective manner.
2. State leadership in the system
must be strengthened and more clearly focused, and the powers
and duties of the county regional governance system should be
more limited and clearly defined. |
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3.
All public funding for behavioral health services must
be fully integrated and appropriately allocated to best serve
the needs of consumers, and we must access private and other
public funding for needed services to the greatest possible
extent.
4. Mental health commitments by
county mental health boards need to be more uniform and consistent
statewide, and the involuntary commitment process as a whole
must be improved to better meet the needs of consumers and the
general public.
I am grateful to Governor Johanns for his gracious and unwaivering
partnership in this effort, and to the Kim Foundation for their
tireless dedication and commitment to the mentally ill. The
media have also done a great deal to shine the public spotlight
on this important health care issue for Nebraskans. It is apparent
that there is a need for change and a collective desire for
change. With the passage of LB 724, however, the real work has
only just begun.
We are now in the process of preparing necessary legislation
to implement the changes mandated by LB 724. We plan to have
a final draft outline of that legislation prepared by August
15, and the first draft of the actual legislation completed
by October, and we will share them with you for your review
and comments.
It will not be an easy task, and the changes proposed may not
be universally accepted. Guiding all of this work will be one
simple principle: doing what’s best for consumers of mental
health and substance abuse services.
I welcome the input and assistance of all interested citizens
in this reform initiative. Please feel free to contact my office
at (402) 471-2622, write to me at 1402 State Capitol, Lincoln,
NE 68509, or email me at: jjensen@unicam.state.ne.us.
Thank you in advance for your kind concern and involvement.
Together, we really can make a difference. |
