Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-830 — NE Code / Chapter 71 / Section 71-830
View Statute 71-830
Status: in_force

(1) The Behavioral Health Education Center is created and shall be administered by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

(2) The center shall:

(a)(i) Provide funds for up to ten additional medical residents, physician assistants, or psychiatric nurse practitioners in a Nebraska-based psychiatry program each year. The center shall provide psychiatric training experiences that serve rural Nebraska and other underserved areas. As part of the training experience, each center-funded resident, physician assistant, or psychiatric nurse practitioner shall participate in the rural training for a minimum of three months. A minimum of three of the ten center-funded residents, physician assistants, or psychiatric nurse practitioners shall be active in the rural training each year;

(ii) Provide funds for up to twelve one-year doctoral-level psychology internships in Nebraska. The interns shall be placed in communities so as to increase access to behavioral health services for patients residing in rural and underserved areas of Nebraska; and

(iii) Provide funds for up to ten one-year mental health therapist internships or practicums in Nebraska. The trainees shall be placed in rural and underserved communities in order to increase access to behavioral health services for patients residing in such areas of Nebraska;

(b) Focus on the training of behavioral health professionals in telehealth techniques, including taking advantage of a telehealth network that exists, and other innovative means of care delivery in order to increase access to behavioral health services for all Nebraskans;

(c) Analyze the geographic and demographic availability of Nebraska behavioral health professionals, including psychiatrists, social workers, community rehabilitation workers, psychologists, substance abuse counselors, licensed mental health practitioners, behavioral analysts, peer support providers, primary care physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and physician assistants;

(d) Prioritize the need for additional professionals by type and location;

(e) Establish learning collaborative partnerships with other higher education institutions in the state, hospitals, law enforcement, community-based agencies, school districts, and consumers and their families in order to develop evidence-based, recovery-focused, interdisciplinary curricula and training for behavioral health professionals delivering behavioral health services in community-based agencies, hospitals, and law enforcement. Development and dissemination of such curricula and training shall address the identified priority needs for behavioral health professionals;

(f) Establish and operate six interdisciplinary behavioral health training sites. Four of the six sites shall be in counties with a population of fewer than fifty thousand inhabitants. Each site shall provide annual interdisciplinary training opportunities for a minimum of six behavioral health professionals; and

(g) Educate behavioral health providers and facilities to integrate behavioral health care into primary care practice and licensed health care facilities in order to place well-trained behavioral health providers into primary care practices, behavioral health practices, and rural hospitals for the purpose of increasing access to behavioral health services.

(3) No later than December 1 of every odd-numbered year, the center shall prepare a report of its activities under the Behavioral Health Workforce Act. The report shall be filed electronically with the Clerk of the Legislature and shall be provided electronically to any member of the Legislature upon request.

Laws 2009, LB603, § 14;

Laws 2012, LB782, § 109;

Laws 2014, LB901, § 1;

Laws 2022, LB1068, § 2.