LINCOLN — Department of Health and Human Services officials hope to take a first step this week in replacing child welfare workers with private contractors.
Agency spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said Monday that the agency’s staff is working on documents justifying the change.
The documents are expected to be submitted to the Department of Administrative Services for approval “within the week,” she said.
The justification is required by a 1995 state law. But some legislators are questioning the agency’s plans and its timeline.
State Sen. Gwen Howard of Omaha, a former state caseworker, said she is concerned that the change is being rushed through without legislative oversight.
She said numerous questions need to be answered in light of the problems experienced already in the move toward privatizing care of state wards.
“I don’t want to see another Beatrice out of this,” Howard said, referring to the Beatrice State Developmental Center. Troubles have dogged the institution for the developmentally disabled for four years.
Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln is asking legislators to form a special investigative committee similar to one that looked into problems at the Beatrice center.
Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha sent a letter to Kerry Winterer, chief executive officer of HHS, asking him to delay the change and raising the issue of the 1995 law.
The main state employees union also cited the law in a letter sent Friday to Winterer, questioning the legality of plans to privatize more child welfare responsibilities.
“Given the huge human costs of the ill-conceived proposed changes, it is imperative that all legal requirements be scrupulously followed,” the letter said.
Winterer announced plans Oct. 15 to eliminate state jobs and further privatize the child welfare system. The goal is to make the changes by Jan. 1 in the Omaha area and southeast Nebraska.
Two private organizations — the Omaha-based Nebraska Families Collaborative and the Kansas-based KVC — now hold contracts in those areas.
Current contracts call for them to coordinate and provide services to children and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice system.
The new plan would make the private organizations responsible for managing the cases, a job now done by state employees.
The changes won’t occur in the rest of the state until HHS has contracted with a new agency or agencies to serve those areas.
HHS officials said they have not determined how many state workers’ jobs will be eliminated. The state agency has about 450 child welfare specialists statewide, plus supervisors and administrative staff.
The 1995 contracting law was introduced by then-State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. It requires approval from the State Department of Administrative Services director for any contract in which private entities replace state workers.
The department director must weigh the potential economic advantage against the public interest in having state workers perform the duties in question.
The director also must determine whether there is adequate oversight of the contract and if the private entity fairly compensates its employees.
Administrative Services Director Carlos Castillo said the Game and Parks Commission went through the process recently to get approval for contracting out food service at Mahoney State Park.
An agency seeking to contract out state jobs also must show it has considered alternatives such as reorganization.
Osterman said the union raised similar questions last year when HHS was moving ahead with plans to contract for service coordination, which had been a job of state workers.
Todd Landry, then children and family services director for the department, responded by saying he did not believe the law was applicable because state workers would continue to do case management.
HHS officials have said they contracted with private agencies to improve care of children and families and increase the number of children served at home.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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