State's ailing mental health system
could see relief with proposed bills
bygwentietgen
The Nebraska mental health
care system took a big step for
ward Thursday as the session's
first batch of mental health bills
were tackled by the Legislature’s
Health and Human Services
Committee.
But Thursday’s hearings were
just the beginning in the revamp
ing of a system that, in the words
of one person’s testimony,
“sucks.”
Uncolnites Patricia Blakely
and her daughter know all too
well about the system's short
comings..
At the age of 14, Blakely’s
daughter, who was using drugs
and alcohol, ran away horn
home.
Blakely wouldn't find out
until later that her daughter suf
fered from post-traumatic stress
syndrome and depression.
Once she realized her daugh
ter was mentally ill, nothing
would be done for months.
*My daughter sat in a deten
tion center for five months with
people who aren't exactly good
peer role models ” Blakely said.
Once her daughter received
treatment she turned around for
the better, she said.
j *1 was very lucky that my
daughter even got treated within
five months,” Blakely said.
And Blakely’s story is repeat
ed again and again throughout
the Nebraska mental health sys
tem, many people testified.
The complex issue of mental
health is nothing new to legisla
tors, who have been toiling since
1992 with state mental health
issues.
This year, legislators hope to
finally take action on some men
tal health issues and conduct
final interim studies on others.
“I really do believe we have an
opportunity here,” said Sen. Jim
Legislature
Jensen of Omaha.
Jensen introduced the two
major mental health bills:
■ LB770 would change provi
sions to the Nebraska Mental
Health Commitment Act by
requiring the Department of
Health and Human Services to
take custody of committed indi
viduals within 48 hours.
Under the current system,
k individuals must go through a
much longer process.
The funding required to actu
ally make Nebraska’s mental
health services able to take cus
tody of patients within 48 hours is
between $928,000 and $1.3 mil
lion, said Sen. Jennie Robak of
Columbus.
■ LB682, the adoption of the
Nebraska Behavioral Health
Services Act, defines mental ill
ness, alcoholism and compulsive
gambling among other things.
The bill also creates stronger
community-based mental health
services by establishing a com
munity mental health center in
each of Nebraska’s six behavioral
health regions.
It also requires the state to
give $3 to each of the six regional
coordinating boards for every $1
provided by die counties.
Right now, the amount of
money Nebraska spends* on
mental health care ties for last
place in the nation with West
Virginia.
"If Nebraska doubled that
amount of money, we would be
43rd in the nation, and if we
tripled that amount, we would
rank 41st," Robak said.
Children and Family Coalitior
Nebraska, identified three exist
ing problems the mental health
care system needs to tackle:
Scot Adams, representing
■ Major mental health care
centers in the state don't commu- -
nicate with each other, causing
useless overlapping systems,
Adams said.
Integrating services is anoth
er area the Nebraska mental
health system has to revamp,
Adams said.
“We need to integrate those
who know mental illness and
those who know chemical
dependency," he said.
“Now, Nebraska has a fairly
disconnected level of services.”
To fix that, he said, would take
money.
All those testifying seemed to
agree the system needs to be
changed, but disagreed on howto
doit
Aleisa McKinlay from
Nebraska Advocacy Services, a
group that represents disabled
people, supported both bills, but
recommended they be amended.
Changes McKinlay suggested
including consumer and family
input in die revamping of the sys
tem, a better definition of mental
illness and more specifics on the
operations of the community
mental health centers that would
be established.
McKinlay also disagreed with
LB682’s matching fund require
ments, which she said actually
decreased funding and provided
local boards with litde incentive
' to provide community mental
health services.
“Until regional community
based entities have complete
responsibility for serving individ
uals, mainstream economic the
ory would tell you that they’re
simply not going to make a con
certed effort to do it,” McKinlay
said.
Jensen, die bills’ sponsor, and
the rest of the committee said
they were hopeful about the
progress made in mental health
issues.
“I hope to bring the con
sumer in die mix of mental health
issues,” Jensen said.
“And to examine the out
comes of services to make sure
we are achieving results.”
In other Legislative news:
■ The committee advanced
LB227 with an amendment. The
bill bans smoking in most restau
rants.
The added amendment dic
tates smoking areas in restau
rants be completely enclosed
♦nth a separate ventilation sys
tem from the non-smoking area.
r
Recycle your
Daily Nebraskan
.or else.
J
to attract minorities
BY ANGIE SCHAFFER
Showing students of color
the opportunities awaiting in the
field of law is what the NU Law
College’s annual Diversity Law
Day is all about
High school and college stu
dents are welcome to attend the
event, which takes place on
Saturday, said Steven Willbom,
interim dean of the College of
Law.
The event runs from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at Ross McCollum Hall
on the East Campus Loop.
Willbom said the day would
help potential law students find
information about law school
and help students who are con
sidering law as a career choice.
The day’s program includes
information about applying for
law school and taking the LSAT,
the law school entrance exam. It
also will show students ways to
finance an education in law and
present various career opportu
nities.
UNL faculty and current law
students will speak about their
experiences, and a sample law
school class will allow partici
pants to get a feel for the atmos
phere.
A pizza lunch will be provid
ed where faculty and alumni can
discuss their experiences and
answer any questions students
have.
Diversity Law Day is a part of
National Minority Law Student
Recruitment Month and is more
important now that states like
California and Texas have with
drawn their affirmative action
programs, Willbom said.
“There has not been too
much of an effect here,” he said.
“But die number of minority law
school applicants have gone
down dramatically in California
and Texas.
“We’re Nebraska’s only public
law school, and, consequently,
we feel strongly that we should
serve all segments of the popula
tion,” he sai<^
The day is sponsored by the
UNL Office of Multi-Cultural
Affairs and the College of Law’s
Black Law Students Association
and Multi-Cultural Legal Society.
, For more information, stu
dents can call the law school at
(402)472-2161.
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A STRONGER ALUMNL
A GREATER UNIVERSITY.
Bill proposes more secure facilities
to house violent youth offenders
BY GEORGE GREEN
The question of how to han
dle Nebraska’s most dangerous
youth offenders took center
stage at the Legislature
Thursday.
The Judiciary Committee
heard testimony on a bill geared
toward moving violent youth to
secure lock-up facilities.
LB599, introduced by Sen.
Kermit Brashear of Omaha on
behalf of Gov. Mike Johanns,
would change the Hastings
Correctional Center into a unit
for dangerous youth offenders.
Level 5 youth criminals - the
state’s most dangerous young
offenders who have committed
violent crimes such as rape and
murder - would find rehabilita
tion services and a new home.
The facility currently houses
about 150 adult convicts.
Brashear and Johanns also
crafted the bill to address over
crowding at Nebraska's two cen
Legislature
ters for juveniles in Kearney and
Geneva.
Steve King, spokesman for
the Nebraska Department of
Corrections, said the correc
tional department supported
the bill because it handled the
youth in the safest, securest
fashion.
Another bill, LB471, would
transfer other young offenders,
those convicted as adults, from
the Nebraska Correctional
Youth Facility in Omaha to other
adult correctional facilities in
the state.
The extra space in Omaha
would then be filled by the Level
5 offenders who are overcrowd
ing the state's two youth facili
ties, he said.
Shuffling these youngsters
into prisons dominated by
adults, though, promises to put
the youths into dangerous sexu
al and physical situations, King
said.
“It's easier and safer to move
adult offenders from the
Hastings unit (into other prison
facilities),” he said.
But Sen. Dwite Pedersen of
Elkhorn, who introduced
LB471, said the massive cost of
revamping the Hastings facility
made it an unfeasible option.
More importantly, he said,
moving young offenders to the
site invited disaster because it
wasn’t suitable for dangerous
criminals.
Under Pedersen’s urging, the
committee decided not to
advance either bill.
Pedersen said he wanted
senators to take a look at the
Hastings unit before they made
up their minds.
“We need to have people see
what a piece of crap it is,” he
said.
Proposed teacher pay bills spark controversy
EDUCATION from page 1
would get some of the food tax
money back.
Taking a different route to
additional funds, Wickersham
introduced LB201, which would
increase excise taxes on liquor,
beer and cigarettes.
The excise proposal differed
from its sister bills because it
actually garnered some support
- even though the support was
n't directly for teachers.
David Holmquist, a
spokesman for the American
Cancer Society, said he backed
the bill because it would save
lives, not because it’d boost
teacher pay.
“We support it for the tax
increase, not the revenue,” he
said.
Studies have shown that
higher prices translate into
fewer smokers, he said.
Jim Moylan, a lobbyist for
the Nebraska Liquor and
Beverage Association, moved
the chorus of testimony back to
the opposition side.
He said the bill wouldn’t
raise extra money, only extra
outrage.
Nebraskans would slip over
the border to neighboring states
to buy their booze and ciga
rettes because other states
charge less for the items, he
said.
With so many citizens head
ing to other states, Nebraska
wouldn’t pull in the extra cash it
needed to increase teacher
salaries, he said.
But, Moylan said senators
would gather extra complaints.
“These two taxes (on alcohol
and cigarettes) rile as many
feathers as you can think
about,” he said.
Wickersham bumped into
the tide of resistance again
when he introduced LB205.
The bill would increase the
base income tax rate from 3.7
percent to 3.95 percent.
Wickersham defended the
bill and said it offered citizens
with a progressive tax option
that shifted the burden to the
upper class, who would pay the
most
Omaha resident D'Anne
Welch stepped up to the plate to
shoot down LB205.
She said she had already
forked over so much cash to the
' state that she struggled to sup
port her disabled child.
“It will have a very regressive
effect on my family,” she said.
Wickersham continued
offering Nebraskans different
options to help out teachers by
introducing LB207.
Combining both an increase
in sales and income taxes,
Wickersham said the bill would
spread out the tax burden.
“I thought it was important
to introduce a bill that blended
two options," he said.
Under the bill, Nebraskans
would have to deal with a. 11
percent increase in sales taxes
and a .25 percent increase in
income taxes.
Sticking to the afternoon’s
resistant theme, John
Cederberg, a certified public
account, testified that the bill
would put an unfair burden on
the upper class.
Nebraskans who earn less
than $40,000 per year already
send in fewer tax dollars than
similar citizens in other states;
LB207 would keep the unjust
trend rolling, he said.
When all was said and done,
Wickersham acknowledged
teachers’ dire situations and the
outpouring against paying more
taxes.
“Whether we like it or not,
something has got to happen,"
he said.
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