Continuum of Care

Building a seamless behavioral health continuum of care for Nebraska.

North Star Vision

Potential Strategies

Assess which levels of care are missing, limited, or inaccessible across regions and populations, and identify priority gaps to address based on need, feasibility, and impact.
Support the development, expansion, or regional sharing of missing levels of care, such as crisis stabilization, intermediate, residential, or step-down services, using targeted funding, technical assistance, partnerships, and telehealth models.
Define clear, consistent pathways for how individuals enter care and move between levels, including what happens at entry, referral, discharge, and step-down points, so the continuum functions in practice.
Develop and test collaborative care navigation and warm handoff processes that build on existing case management structures and strengthen coordination across providers and levels of care.
Create shared expectations for transitions between levels of care, including ownership of follow-up, timelines for contact, and minimum requirements for successful handoffs after crisis or hospitalization.
Identify coordination tasks currently placed on individuals and families and shift responsibility to systems, providers, or navigators through workflow, policy, and accountability changes.
Convene providers, navigators, and system leaders to share tools, protocols, lessons learned, and evidence-based approaches for strengthening continuity of care and filling gaps statewide.