November 04, 2003, an Omaha World-Herald article quoted Gov. Mike Johanns’ concerns regarding mental health care in Nebraska. The Governor stated that half the counties in Nebraska are in crisis over available mental health services.

The article quoted Johanns stating that about 20 counties in Nebraska have a single mental health practitioner, and 20 plus others have none…….no social worker, no psychologist, nothing. Gov. Johanns stated “if you live in Valentine or Ainsworth, Chadron or Crawford, on and on, it’s a difficult situation. We as a state, have to be able to help them.”

The World Herald also quoted Gov. Johanns concern for the people with mental illnesses in those counties without services as having particular troubles because the day to day opportunities to manage the condition don’t exist.

“It is just so sad to see, because we know there’s good treatment out there but it has to be daily, and it has to be in the community, and we just don’t provide it,” Johanns said.

Governor Johanns supports a plan to close as many as two of the state’s regional centers, then to divert that operational money to community-based treatment services across Nebraska. One great advantage to that plan is that those community based services could qualify for a 60-40 Medicaid funding match from the federal government, unlike the regional centers, which specifically are excluded.

The Kim Foundation supports the Governor and the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee in this point of view. It is time to put the needs of the consumer as a priority.