We Organized, We Won: Mental Health Navigation Is Becoming a Reality!

• We organized and won: After identifying mental health as a top community concern through our listening sessions, Justice in Action researched solutions and built partnerships to advance non-crisis mental health navigation in Lancaster County.

• We secured a committed partner: Lutheran Family Services (LFS) agreed to lead the development of a community mental health navigation system.

• Our work is moving into implementation: LFS has identified a coordinator and begun researching services, building a resource database, and testing the system.

• We are moving to monitoring: Justice in Action will track progress toward the system’s launch, keep our members informed, and help ensure the community knows how to access this resource.

What happens next?

Justice in Action will continue monitoring LFS’s progress as the navigation system takes shape alongside the new Crisis Intervention Center. Once launched, the system will help community members connect with appropriate mental health services before a crisis occurs or after one has begun, including counseling, psychiatric care, peer support, and educational resources.

This is the result of years of community listening, research, and organizing. What began with personal stories has helped move Lancaster County toward a more accessible mental health care system.

Problem Statement

People experiencing mental health issues in Lancaster County are often unable to access timely and appropriate care and end up interacting with the criminal justice system, which is costly and robs them of the opportunity to receive the ongoing care they need to lead productive and positive lives.

Supporting Facts: 

• 65.3% of those surveyed described mental health as one of their top three health concerns for Lincoln/Lancaster County. 

• In 2023, Lincoln Police Department officers responded to approximately 3,781 mental health calls for service.

• The number of poor mental health days reported by Lancaster County and Nebraska residents has increased since 2014. In 2019, Lancaster County and Nebraska residents reported an average of 3.9 poor mental health days per month, compared to an average of 3.4 poor mental health days per month in 2014.

Solution Statement

To provide the public with a supportive place to begin their search for mental health services, we seek a full commitment to the implementation of a nonemergency mental health navigator system. This navigation system should include a centralized point of contact with timely response from a trained staff person, who gets “in the boat” with those seeking care. It should include accessibility regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. This program should be accessible to the general public as well as the following underserved populations:

• People who are part of racial and ethnic minorities

• People identifying as LGBTQ+

• Children and Adolescents

• People who are elderly or homebound

• People experiencing disabilities

Support From Community Providers

On February 20, 2024 Justice in Action hosted a Mental Health Navigation Summit that brought together health and human services providers from across the community to learn about our committee’s work and hear from Mental Health Navigators in Solano County, California who have successfully piloted mental health navigation in their own community. At the conclusion of the program, providers elected to sign this letter of support.

Thanks to Justice in Action’s advocacy, in June of 2024, a Mental Health Navigation System Working group was convened with representatives from private practice, Lutheran Family Services, Lancaster Connected, Region 5 Systems, the New Americans Task Force, UNL’s Minority Health Disparities Initiative, BraveBe Child Advocacy Center, and the Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department. Together this group has developed a proposal for a mental health navigation system, including an online access portal and personal support and outreach from Navigators, that is...

• Accessible and Inclusive

• Efficient & Quality-Focused

• Supportive with Great Community Engagement

• Innovative & Future-Oriented

Mental Health Navigation Committee Leadership Team 

Jan Boller, PhD First United Methodist Church of Waverly

Sara Bevans, Eastridge Presbyterian Church

 Mary Feit, New Visions Community Church

 Jen Yoder, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

 Dr. Eileen Vautravers, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church

 Rev. Andy Frazier, Christ United Methodist Church

 Judy Hart, Unitarian Church of Lincoln

For More Information

Contact Beth at beth@justice-in-action.org.