Diane Kratz, Co-President Omaha Unit sends the following regarding Uta Halee.
We are still kind of in mourning over the closing of Uta Halee. I received a phone call from an alumnus of Uta Halee just after the announcement. She wrote this to me. “The issue with Uta Halee is that the federal government made changes to the Medicaid law and the way Nebraska interpreted the law girls could not move from one level of care to another. Uta Halee built the successful model which offered several different levels of care with the girls able to transfer from one cottage to another until they were able to transition back home.
The most acute care cottage had nothing - glass, no mirrors, no knives, only durable plastic dishware, etc. - nothing that could use to hurt themselves or others and life was very structured.
The next cottage had mirrors, knives, etc. but the girls still had a lot of structure.
The third cottage, the girls had less structure, still had school on campus, still had counseling, still had a program to work through but they also were able to do some things for themselves. Sometimes the girls in the third cottage were able to go home for weekends, etc.
After they were dismissed from residential treatment, the girls were able to attend the day school if that was appropriate and live at home or in a foster home.
After they transitioned from the day school, they could attend public school and come to Uta Halee for an after school program where they were able to get their counseling and spend the time from after school until their parents got home from work.
Eventually, the goal was to have the girls able to return home. The girls and their families were able to build a trust with their caregivers as they worked through the program at Uta Halee.
The state decided the Medicaid law requirement was for one level of care per facility and the method of placement into residential treatment required a thorough evaluation from a psychiatrist after the recommendation from the courts. It was taking over 6 weeks to get a girl placed.
So, referrals were not coming into Uta Halee as fast as the girls were being processed out of the program. The needs of the girls and their families were not being met during this slow evaluation process. Uta Halee could not keep staff in place with such a small population of girls being served.
CWU – Omaha does have a scholarship for alumni of Uta Halee who have graduated from high school or received their GED, to continue their post high school education. Most of the girls who take advantage of the scholarship attend a community college but some have tried a 4 year program. We will pay the hourly tuition cost of a community college and the girls will need to make up the remainder of their tuition. The girls are more successful at the community college level anyway. We are going to continue to offer scholarships as long as there is a need for the girls. Tracy Wells from Uta Halee has offered to maintain the Uta Halee Facebook page as a way to keep in contact with the girls and she posted the scholarship application on Facebook.
Reminders
January 25 – Registration deadline for Ecumenical Legislative Day
February 11 – Ecumenical Legislative Day
February 15 – Deadline for articles – The Nebraska Church Woman – send to Judy
