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Lincoln, NE, (November 28, 2007) – A task force charged with
developing recommendations by early next week for changes in the
state’s behavioral health system for children failed Wednesday to
get a majority agreement to adopt its draft. The Children’s
Behavioral Health Task Force, made up of senators, behavioral health
providers, advocates, a juvenile judge and representatives from the
Department of Health and Human Services, will meet Monday to try the
vote again.
Its recommendations include discontinuing residential adolescent
mental health services at the Hastings Regional Center, transferring
those services to community providers. It also recommends better
funding for children’s behavioral health services and adopting
legislation that puts insurance coverage of behavioral health on par
with coverage of general medical conditions.
HHS notified the Legislature in October of its plan to reduce
capacity for adolescent residential psychiatric services in Hastings
from 16 beds to eight. At that time, two youths were receiving those
services, down from eight in the summer. Now only one is getting
that service. The program has a $3 million budget that includes 16
direct-care employees. It shares 28 full-time equivalent support
staff — 70 people — with a chemical dependency program, also at the
Hastings center. That program has 40 kids and a waiting list, said
Scot Adams, HHS director of the division of behavioral health.
He said the program is under budget and not spending the full $3
million. A large part of the budget is fixed costs, including the
cost to maintain an old building. It costs $674,000 a year to heat
and cool the building, he said.
The task force was convened by LB 542, a bill passed this year that
requires a plan for a statewide, integrated system to provide
educational, behavioral health, substance abuse and support services
to the state’s children and their families. The task force will
oversee the plan’s implementation until June 30, 2010. HHS is
required to write the children’s behavioral health plan, including
funding, by Jan. 4.
Change is needed, the task force report says, and the aim of the
report is to provide clear vision for change.
The group met Wednesday to approve the draft plan, but when Chairman
Jim Jensen explained that members from HHS would abstain from the
vote, Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich called
a timeout. Something so important to the state — a vital document
that could give hope of urgently needed change in the system —
should not be passed over by representatives of the administrative
branch, she said. “I’m floored,” Crnkovich said. In her mind, it
called into question the integrity of the committee.
If HHS representatives Adams, Todd Landry and Terri Nutzman gave
less than full support for what the task force had done, she said,
then maybe the task force was just going through the motions when
there was already a “preconceived agenda” and nothing substantive
expected from the task force.
Adams said different branches of government see things in different
ways. The department’s representatives participated fully in
developing the recommendations, he said.
Still, Crnkovich said she questioned whether it was appropriate for
any of the members to vote if three were abstaining. She then
excused herself from the meeting, but returned about 20 minutes
later.
After discussing minor changes in the report, six committee members,
including Crnkovich, voted to approve the draft report. The three
HHS members abstained and three others were absent. Without a
majority vote, the committee agreed to gather again Monday. The
report is due to the Legislature by Tuesday.
Jensen said that when individuals selected for the task force don’t
vote, it handicaps the work of the group. They should vote, he said,
and in the future, specifications about voting may need to be
addressed.
Adams said after the meeting the decision to abstain from voting was
made in staff meetings with Gov. Dave Heineman’s policy research
office. He said he had asked the task force to narrow the focus to
three to four “big issue” recommendations that would have included
the Hastings Regional Center services and funding issues. The task
force decided to broaden the recommendations to 16.
Crnkovich said after the meeting she took a few minutes away to
reflect on the committee needs and felt her participation was
essential to help and support the families with whom she works. It
was essential to “continue to collaborate and cooperate with no
hidden agenda and with an open heart,” she said.
Once the report is approved, HHS will be charged with developing a
response plan. It could address all the recommendations or choose to
ignore some of them, Adams said. Some may require legislation, but
the majority can be addressed without it. “I remain very
optimistic,” he said.
PLEASE NOTE: The December 3rd meeting of the Children’s Behavioral
Health Task Force was cancelled and is to be rescheduled at a
different date. For more information please click here. |
