Lawmakers to undertake mental health debate today

LINCOLN (AP) - After months of negotiations, public denouncements, emotional outpourings and closed-door briefings, the Legislature was prepared today to take up Gov. Mike Johanns' mental health reform plan.

The cities of Norfolk and Hastings are unified against the proposal, which would close mental health regional centers in their communities as part of a move toward more community-based care.

Some lawmakers are pushing for more legislative control over the closures and more safeguards to ensure that the new community-based resources for former patients are up and running a while before the centers are shut down.

Johanns originally wanted both of the centers to close by the end of 2005, but he agreed to remove the closing date as a compromise with bill opponents.

But the opposition didn't waiver, and instead it pushed for a requirement that the Legislature agree to the closings and not give all the power to the state Health and Human Services System.

They also want a guarantee that neither center be closed before 2007.

The key for Johanns and the reform's supporters is developing a network of care in communities across the state to treat people closer to their homes. Doing that would remove the need for the two regional centers, they say, while at the same time provide patients with care that will be less disruptive to their lives.

Closing the two regional centers also would make Nebraska eligible for federal Medicaid money it cannot now access.

Under the plan, the Lincoln Regional Center would remain open largely to house sex offenders and others who cannot be safely treated in the community. A new facility in Omaha would be built.

Johanns has taken a lot of political heat for the plan, which he said is his highest priority for the remaining three years of his term. It was the only bill this session that he testified on behalf of in committee and in recent weeks he has held meetings with state senators and local mental health officials to work out details.

Earlier this month the cities released a poll that showed 60 percent of Nebraskans were against closing the two centers, but Johanns dismissed it, saying people don't understand the breadth of his proposal.

One of the biggest misconceptions, Johanns has said, is that patients in Norfolk and Hastings will be turned loose without adequate community services. The bill specifies that the centers will not close until there are beds available in the community.

Moving away from regional centers for mental health care has been discussed in Nebraska for decades. The proposal is supported by dozens of organizations with some ties to mental health care, including the Nebraska Medical Association, the Nebraska Psychiatric Society, and the Nebraska chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Opponents include the mayors of Norfolk and Hastings, the Police Chiefs Association of Nebraska, and the state employees union.

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