Senator pleased with area mental health care

COLUMBUS - After spending the day meeting with health professionals and touring Columbus Community Hospital and the Family Resource Center, State Sen. Jim Jensen said he is impressed with how the area is moving forward in providing community-based mental health care.

Jensen, chairman of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, was joined by State Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center as they toured the area Monday to discuss the Behavioral Health Reform Act, which was passed during the 2004 session as part of LB1083.

One of their stops was a meeting with the Columbus Alliance for the Mentally Ill at the Rainbow Center.

The CAMI provides support, education and advocacy for people with mental illness and their families.

"I'm excited about what this four-county region is doing," Jensen said. "I hope we can duplicate this type of cooperation in other parts of the state."

The alliance serves Platte, Colfax, Boone and Nance counties.

Jensen, who represents the Omaha area in the Legislature, said he knows the transition being made from caring for mentally ill patients in state regional centers to community-based care facilities could have its bumps.

"Anytime you are making a transition, it is hard," he said. "Change can be hard."

But he's confident the state can make the changes outlined by the reform act.

Jensen reminded those in attendance that the state is in the implementation stage of the program right now.

As part of the act, regional centers in Norfolk and Hastings will close, although Jensen said no date for the action has been set.

"We will be replacing those services with ones in the community," he said. "Each community will come up with a need and how the transition will occur."

As part of the reform act, the state is divided into six regions. Columbus is served by Region 4, which is beginning to bring services to the area, Jensen said.

In fact, Columbus Catholic Charities has been picked by Region 4 officials as a site for three new programs.

As part of the contract, Catholic Charities will begin renovating portions of the second floor of the Columbus Family Resource Center in order to add beds for psychological residential rehabilitation, emergency protective custody and emergency stabilization. The contract will also help the agency establish a community support program where mental health and substance abuse workers will go out and help people living in the area.

Jensen said places such as the resource center will play a major role in the success of the community based mental health programs.

"I hope a year from now we have a lot more services like that in the state," he said. "I'm pleased to see what is happening at the resources center."

Melia Cooke, of Lincoln, coordinator for the Behavior Health Oversight Committee, said she is excited to be a part of the reform effort. Cooke joined Jensen and Stuthman for the local tour and meeting. The oversight committee was created as part of LB1083, Jensen said.

Cooke, who was first diagnosed with a mental illness when she was in her 20s, said recovery from a mental illness is possible, and she considers herself one of the many people who are recovering.

She said the biggest reason she has been able to do so well is because of the support of her parents and the support she has received in her community. That support, she said, is essential to those with mental illnesses.

"I thank you for caring so much about your child that you are here to get support," she told those at the meeting.

Stuthman said he's glad to be a part of the Health and Human Services Committee and of what the area is doing.

"I'm proud of what we have here and what Columbus has to offer," he said. "I'm also pleased to have people like Sen. Jensen on the committee and doing the work he has been doing."

Jensen and Cooke said they were also pleased to learn about the Crisis Navigators, which is a program in the area that provides help to those battling mental illness.

Crisis Navigators is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline staffed by professionals who will direct people to the help they need. The service is a community-wide effort directed by the Behavioral Health Consortium. Anyone needing help can call 564-3264 in Columbus, or toll free at 1 (866) 758-4749.

Tom Meek, executive director of the Rainbow Center and chairman of the consortium, said the hotline received 826 calls during fiscal year 2003-04, which runs from July to June. Thirty-one of the calls were interventions of people with suicidal tendencies.

From July to November of this year, the hotline has received 295 calls, six of which were people with suicidal tendencies who were taken care of before law enforcement had to be involved.

In addition to praising Columbus for the services it offers, Jensen also encouraged the CAMI to continue its efforts.

"You have a lot of strength in this group," he said. "Each one of you can be a great resource for others."