January 14, 2014 (Lincoln, NE) – Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska (LFS) began supervising
some of the core behavioral health services at the Lancaster County Community Mental Health
Center (CMHC) on Monday, January 13, 2014.
The LFS hiring process is nearly complete, and most of the 25 new staff members will begin work
by the end of January. As outlined in the original Region V request for proposals, Lutheran Family
Services is assuming responsibility for core services: community support services, outpatient
therapy, medication management and day treatment. The transfer of these services is happening
in stages, with supervision of community support services transitioning yesterday.
LFS has hired 16 community support workers with the option of adding more if needed.
Supervision of outpatient therapy services will transition February 1st, and LFS has hired all four
therapists. Lancaster County and Region V continue to work collaboratively to explore possible
alternatives for the delivery of some of the auxiliary services which are not part of the Region V
contract with LFS.
Pam Osborne, LFS Regional Administrator of Behavioral Health for Southeast Nebraska, and
Julie Fisher-Erickson, LFS Director of Behavioral Health for Southeast Nebraska, plus other staff
members, are on-site and available to answer questions from new and current consumers.
LFS has also been implementing its communication plan, which includes a dedicated webpage
with answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s), plus a place for consumers and their
families to submit new questions: www.lfsquestions.org. An LFS staff member “greeter” will also
be available in the lobby area of CMHC for at least three hours each business day, from Monday,
January 13 until Friday, January 24. The hours will be varied to meet consumer needs and more
dates may be added if needed. All consumers with an available mailing address will soon receive
a letter from Lancaster County and LFS. This letter, along with the FAQs, is available to
consumers in the CMHC lobby
Todd Reckling, LFS Vice President of Program, says, “LFS is excited to be able to serve Lancaster County residents seeking behavioral health services and support. We want to thank the Lancaster County Commissioners and Region V Systems for their guidance and partnership as we’ve worked together through the challenge of transferring services from one organization to another.”
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska is a 122-year-old statewide, community-based human care organization. LFS seeks safety, hope and well-being for all people through three core areas of competency: children services, behavioral health and community services. On any given day, LFS has open case files on over 2,000 children – and serves over 5,000 behavioral health consumers statewide each year. LFS is the recipient of the 2013 Better Business Bureau Integrity Award.
