LINCOLN- Nebraska officials are demanding St. Francis Ministry, the contractor hired to oversee Omaha-area child welfare cases, fix key problems that should no longer be issues.

A report released Monday shows that St. Francis Ministries of Salina, Kansas, fell short on several contracted performance goals during the last quarter of the year. Many were repeats from previous state reviews including that workers continue to have far too many cases, employee turnover remains high, background checks are not getting done, case plans are not being developed fast enough, placements are not being documented and workers are not meeting with the children in their care.

In four of the six areas, St. Francis already was on a corrective action plan from the previous quarter, but had not corrected the problem. In a fifth area, workforce, the agency was required to develop a hiring plan in September, but made no progress in meeting state caseload limits between October and December.

DHHS is requiring the company to develop a plan for each one of those issues. Dannette Smith, the HHS CEO, said the state agreed to the new contract “to maintain continuity of services” in the Omaha area. But she also promised increased state oversight, saying that department officials will be “persnickety” in making sure that St. Francis fulfills its obligations under the new contract and maintains financial stability.

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