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Senator introduces LR304 seeking legislative oversight of recent DHHS child‑welfare changes
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Summary
Sen. John Frederickson introduced LR304 asking the Legislature to direct oversight of Department of Health and Human Services changes to contracted child‑welfare services, citing service conversions to in‑house positions, workforce concerns and potential budget impacts; providers and oversight agencies urged transparency and inclusion of impacted families.
Senator John Frederickson, who represents District 20, introduced Legislative Resolution 304 to direct enhanced legislative oversight of recent Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) actions affecting child and family services.
Frederickson told the Executive Board the resolution responds to a series of contractual changes and service consolidations — including recent conversions of relative and kin foster care and other supports — and the department’s reported mid‑biennium budget pressures tied to converting contracts into internal DHHS positions. "LR304 was brought in an effort to enhance oversight regarding several DHHS children and family service cost savings initiatives in recent years," he said during the hearing.
Supporters who testified told the committee the changes have been sudden and risk destabilizing services. Ashley Brown, president of KVC Nebraska and the Children and Family Coalition of Nebraska (CAPCON), said providers have been steady partners through repeated reforms and that the state risks returning to a model of largely state‑administered services without clear evidence DHHS has the staffing or training to absorb the work. "We have significant concerns about whether an already overextended state system can safely absorb supervision and high quality direct service families deserve," Brown said.
Monica Gross, executive director of the Foster Care Review Office (FCRO), urged the committee to consult the Nebraska Children's Commission and referenced prior oversight efforts, including LR37 in 2011. Gross described FCRO’s dual oversight role — individual case reviews and systemic trend analysis — and noted the office’s statutory limits, saying it cannot review in‑home non‑court cases, alternative‑response cases or ongoing investigations.
Shalisha Walker, child‑welfare program director at Nebraska Appleseed, argued the system lacks consistent transparency and meaningful engagement with youth and families, and that abrupt contract and regulatory changes have the potential to disrupt case plans and exits from care. She urged that any oversight effort authentically involve impacted individuals.
Frederickson told the board he will work with the oversight committee’s chair and staff to make the resolution’s timeline and operational details more workable if the executive board advances the measure. The committee clerk recorded 17 letters in support and none in opposition for LR304. No formal committee vote or floor action was recorded at this hearing.
The hearing record shows the resolution is intended to prompt study and oversight; the senator said questions remain about how committee staff support would be provided and whether work would be delegated to the oversight committee. The next procedural step would be the executive board’s decision on whether to advance LR304 to the full legislative body for consideration.
