Two members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee took on a division manager in the state Department of Health and Human Services over the department’s opposition Wednesday to a bill that would help families whose children need behavioral health services.

The bill (LB356), introduced by Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton, would create a process for parents to voluntarily request behavioral health services for their children, with oversight by the courts, rather than be forced to make them wards of the state.

It is the link to services families have not had, said Topher Hansen, of the Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations.

Scot Adams, director of the department’s division of behavioral health, opposed the bill, saying it lacked clarity and specifics, would cost the state millions of dollars and provided for no safety issue to warrant court involvement.

Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop told Adams he had a serious problem with Health and Human Services.

“I don’t understand the mission statement. I don’t know if you guys have one that really is consistent with what the people expect from Health and Human Services,” Lathrop said.

The original safe haven law exposed the crisis with children’s mental health that had been brewing in the state, and the Legislature is looking for a real solution, he said.

“What (these families) were told by Health and Human Services in this state was, ‘You know what, call Lutheran Family Services, call Catholic Family Services, call the United Way, but don’t call us because you’re not in an immediate threat of a serious injury or death.’ Should that be the standard? I don’t think it should,” Lathrop said.

Adams said a bill (LB346), introduced by Sen. Tim Gay of Papillion on behalf of Gov. Dave Heineman, was the department’s offering to help resolve the crisis.  That bill would create a hotline for families in crisis, a peer-support program for those families and help for families who have adopted a state ward or become a guardian.

“You and I both know that bill doesn’t go far enough in solving this problem,” countered Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill, who chaired a task force late last year to address the issues. “There are people not getting services early enough to truly help them. That’s why we’re spending money on the back end of things, helping people in these crisis situations.”

McGill said her frustrations came from the department opposing policy decisions that are the Legislature’s job to create.

“It’s your job to follow through with what we find to be the option moving forward,” she said. “I know you know there’s a problem out there, whether you can say it or not right now.”

Dubas received an estimate from the department on what her bill might cost.

“If it is accurate, it portrays a much more serious issue than I ever fathomed,” she told the committee.

The bill said an estimated 10,200 children could receive behavioral health services in 2009-10, and 13,700 in 2010-11. That care is estimated to cost the state $82 million to $119 million in the next fiscal year.

Even though the bill would depend on the state’s six behavioral health regions to evaluate and provide services for the children, the estimate on costs called for an additional 300 employees within Health and Human Services.

Several people testifying in favor of the bill argued the cost estimates were inflated.

“The budget numbers that go with this, either we’re getting the Taj Mahal or the plumber who doesn’t want the job,” Topher Hansen said.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 orjyoung@journalstar.com.