OMAHA — Only a few back-office details remain before Nebraska wraps up its last contract with a private agency to oversee the care of abused and neglected children in the Omaha area.

Nebraska's previous contract with the Kansas-based Saint Francis Ministries finishes June 30. The date signifies both the end of the contract and the conclusion of Nebraska's 12-year experiment with having private entities manage child welfare cases.

The transition back to the Department of Health and Human Services' management of child welfare cases has reportedly gone smoothly. Sen. John Arch, who chairs the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee and an investigative committee looking into the Saint Francis contact, said he has been hearing good reports.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who led the push for the legislative investigation, said she has not received any update about the transition but considers that a good sign when it comes to HHS.

“No news is usually good news,” she said, contrasting the silence to the flood of calls, emails, and other contacts about problems during the contract.

All of the cases handled by Saint Francis made the switch been Jan. 1 and the end of March, but some of the problems that plagued the private contractor will take time to correct.

“We haven’t seen any kind of miraculous turnaround in the cases,” said Monika Gross, director of the state Foster Care Review Office. “I guess the good news is there’s nothing horrible, but there’s still significant struggles going on.”

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