With a sweep of his pen, Gov. Dave Heineman last week pushed Nebraska to the forefront of states providing behavioral health services for children in rural areas.
Legislative Bill 556, which was introduced and championed by Sen. Amanda McGill (Lincoln), approves $900,000 over two years for UNMC’s Nebraska Behavioral Health Education Center and Munroe-Meyer Institute to:
- establish pilot programs in integrated primary care pediatric settings for behavioral health screenings and treatment; and
- triage behavioral health consultation to UNMC specialists for children who are most in need.
Sen. McGill wanted to set up a mechanism for children to be screened for mental health disorders in Nebraska, said Joseph Evans, Ph.D., associate director of the Munroe-Meyer Institute.
Referrals for the screenings will come from parents, schools with parental permission, or physicians with parental permission.
Pilot programs will be run in three of MMI’s 17 outstate clinics, Dr. Evans said.
“These three trial sites will provide us with enough data to determine if the screening programs are effective and can be replicated in other areas of the state.”
The three locations have not yet been selected.
Other states, such as Iowa and New York, have initiated telehealth mental health services that allow access to specialty behavioral health care. The integrated model of the MMI pilot project will allow:
- behavioral health screening;
- further assessment and diagnosis within the primary care medical practice;
- initial treatment options in the patient’s medical home; and
- referrals, using telehealth, to UNMC specialists including child psychiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing and developmental pediatrics.
See sidebar for a list of new services the program will provide.
The new law is important, Dr. Evans said, because of a severe shortage of mental health professionals in rural Nebraska, especially those specializing in children. The pilot program, if successful, will help create access to behavioral health care for children in underserved counties.
“In Nebraska, 88 of 93 counties are considered to be mental health profession shortage areas,” he said.
A recent study shows there are only 30 psychiatrists, 61 psychologists, 20 psychiatric nurse practitioners and no developmental pediatricians serving Nebraska families. More than 35 Nebraska counties have one or no mental health practitioners at all.
“That’s kind of scary,” Dr. Evans said.
What an incredibly huge step in the right direction! Once again, MMI is at the forefront in championing services for children, especially those in under-served, rural areas.
I am very pleased to read about this bill and funding and appreciate UNMC-MMI's involvement in the expanding programs. Hopefully funding will continue and grow past the 2 yrs. States have been lacking understanding and funding. Nebraska has turned a corner to provide these services to our children and there is no better provider than MMI!