Johanns signs sweeping reform of mental health system
Posted: Thursday, April 15, 2004
LINCOLN (AP) -- After months of wrangling, lawmakers passed and Gov. Mike Johanns signed into law a sweeping reform of Nebraska's mental-health system on Wednesday.
"A new day is dawning in Nebraska, but now we have to roll up our sleeves," Johanns said, said.
Lawmakers voted 44-2 to adopt the plan, which was touted by Johanns and will close state mental hospitals in Norfolk and Hastings in lieu of more community-based programs.
Such programs rely less on long-term commitment of patients to hospitals and more on programs such as group homes, which give them more access to the community.
Johanns hailed Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha, the plan's introducer and chairman of the Health Committee, who led the reform plan through months of contentious public hearings and legislative debate.
Just before lawmakers approved the measure, several senators expressed concerns about the plan.
Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln said the state must work to make sure group homes are properly supervised and licensed and that their staffs are properly trained.
Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln told colleagues of a group home in Lincoln that had 30 complaints filed against it in the past year with police.
"And most of them were filed by staff," Beutler said. "That begins to raise questions in my mind."
Beutler and Sen. Matt Connealy of Decatur were the only lawmakers to vote against the measure.
Schimek read a letter from a neighbor of the Lincoln group home where a 5-year-old boy was stabbed recently by a resident.
Roger Einspahr, a resident of the group home, has been charged with kidnapping, second-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit an assault after allegedly dragging the boy to the home.
Schimek said the neighbors worry about how many people supervise group home residents and the histories of patients living there.
Before moving to the duplex, Einspahr had been a resident in the sexual offender unit at the Lincoln Regional Center.
Johanns has ordered the agency to review files of people in the system with profiles similar to Einspahr's to see whether they are safety risks to neighborhoods.
Sen. Gene Tyson of Norfolk also expressed concern about the plan.
"I've talked to people who think this thing is going to fall apart like a $3 watch -- maybe a $2 watch," Tyson said. "I think law enforcement will pay the price."
An agreement reached with Norfolk and Hastings leaders, senators and Johanns calls for keeping the hospitals open until they drop to at least 20 percent of capacity and community-based services are operating.
In helping to sell the plan, Johanns has said if the state moves to more community-based programs, the federal government will pay up to 60 percent of the cost.
Under the compromise, the Legislature's Executive Board -- a committee made up of nine voting senators -- also would have to agree to closing a center before it could happen.
It's impossible to know when a regional center may close since it is dependent upon community-based services being operational, Jensen said.
Johanns took the lead on the mental health reform initiative, which he said was his top priority not only for this year, but his remaining three years in office.
Under the plan, the Lincoln Regional Center will remain open largely to house sex offenders and others who cannot be safely treated in the community.
A report done for the state last year said that an estimated 72,000 Nebraskans age 19 and older will have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness by 2008.
"A new day is dawning in Nebraska, but now we have to roll up our sleeves," Johanns said, said.
Lawmakers voted 44-2 to adopt the plan, which was touted by Johanns and will close state mental hospitals in Norfolk and Hastings in lieu of more community-based programs.
Such programs rely less on long-term commitment of patients to hospitals and more on programs such as group homes, which give them more access to the community.
Johanns hailed Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha, the plan's introducer and chairman of the Health Committee, who led the reform plan through months of contentious public hearings and legislative debate.
Just before lawmakers approved the measure, several senators expressed concerns about the plan.
Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln said the state must work to make sure group homes are properly supervised and licensed and that their staffs are properly trained.
Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln told colleagues of a group home in Lincoln that had 30 complaints filed against it in the past year with police.
"And most of them were filed by staff," Beutler said. "That begins to raise questions in my mind."
Beutler and Sen. Matt Connealy of Decatur were the only lawmakers to vote against the measure.
Schimek read a letter from a neighbor of the Lincoln group home where a 5-year-old boy was stabbed recently by a resident.
Roger Einspahr, a resident of the group home, has been charged with kidnapping, second-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit an assault after allegedly dragging the boy to the home.
Schimek said the neighbors worry about how many people supervise group home residents and the histories of patients living there.
Before moving to the duplex, Einspahr had been a resident in the sexual offender unit at the Lincoln Regional Center.
Johanns has ordered the agency to review files of people in the system with profiles similar to Einspahr's to see whether they are safety risks to neighborhoods.
Sen. Gene Tyson of Norfolk also expressed concern about the plan.
"I've talked to people who think this thing is going to fall apart like a $3 watch -- maybe a $2 watch," Tyson said. "I think law enforcement will pay the price."
An agreement reached with Norfolk and Hastings leaders, senators and Johanns calls for keeping the hospitals open until they drop to at least 20 percent of capacity and community-based services are operating.
In helping to sell the plan, Johanns has said if the state moves to more community-based programs, the federal government will pay up to 60 percent of the cost.
Under the compromise, the Legislature's Executive Board -- a committee made up of nine voting senators -- also would have to agree to closing a center before it could happen.
It's impossible to know when a regional center may close since it is dependent upon community-based services being operational, Jensen said.
Johanns took the lead on the mental health reform initiative, which he said was his top priority not only for this year, but his remaining three years in office.
Under the plan, the Lincoln Regional Center will remain open largely to house sex offenders and others who cannot be safely treated in the community.
A report done for the state last year said that an estimated 72,000 Nebraskans age 19 and older will have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness by 2008.
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