“Falletta Conducts ‘Pines of Rome'”
Omaha, NE—Omaha Symphony welcomes guest conductor Maestra JoAnn Falletta, and guest violinist, Blake Pouliot, for a performance this weekend in homage to Rome. Maestra Falletta, the only female conductor of a top 40 orchestra, will lead the orchestra in the works of Berlioz and Respighi.
Road to Omaha – Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Omaha, NE – On today’s episode of “Road to Omaha,” KVNO’s Brandon McDermott spoke with Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar.
Capitol: HHS officials brief state on child welfare costs
January 5th, 2012
Lincoln, NE – Conflicting views on child welfare and health care were in the air on the second day of the legislative session.
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[audio:https://kvnonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/legup1_5_12KVNO01.mp3]As lawmakers continued to introduce new bills, the Health and Human Services Committee got a briefing from state officials on child welfare costs. Kerry Winterer, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, said KVC, one of the private contractors running child welfare services, had asked in November for an additional $2.1 million a month to continue.
Sen. Bob Krist said KVC's demand for more funding amounts to extortion. (Photo courtesy Nebraska Legislature)
That drew this reaction from Sen. Bob Krist: “I just want to say by any other definition, that by any other word, that’s extortion,†Krist said. “If you’re telling me that KVC told us that they were going to take their pail and bucket and go home unless they got some more money, then they have essentially grown to a position within this structure, where they are extorting money from this government.â€
KVC Nebraska President Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez, who was not at the briefing, said the company had not ‘sprung†anything on the state, and had been talking for months about the need for more money to make up for costs no longer covered by Medicaid. And Winterer said the department had negotiated KVC down to a one-time payment of $1.8 million while it worked on a new payment method known as a case rate.
“We had two choices,†Winterer said. “We could say KVC go away. Take it all back by January. That was one choice. Another choice was to find some way to fund them so they could stay around. And they wanted a heck of a lot of money to do that, which we really weren’t willing to do. The other choice was to say let’s find a way to keep them around in the short term and get to a case rate.â€
A case rate is a system whereby contractors are paid a set amount for each child served, and expenses rise and fall according to the number of those children. Department officials say that’s better than simply paying all the funds that are available and budgeted. They say their goal is to reach a case rate by the end of January.
Meanwhile, legislation is being introduced that would return management of child welfare cases from contractors to the state. The administration has expressed concern about the costs, but senators like Krist say experience has shown the use of contractors has itself increased costs.
On another health-related issue, senators introduced competing bills on establishing health care exchanges. Sen. Jeremy Nordquist’s proposal would establish the exchange, or marketplace for people to shop for health insurance, under the direction of an appointed board.
Sen. Rich Pahls’ proposal would authorize, but not require, establishing an exchange under the direction of the Department of Insurance. The proposals reflect different views of federal health care reform.
Supporters want the state to go ahead and establish an exchange; critics including Gov. Dave Heineman want to wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the federal law.
I have been providing services to Children and Families in the State of Nebraska for 15 years and have experienced wonderful things the State of Nebraska have provided families who have been challenged. Since KVC came to the State, it has been unacceptable the way that the so called “professionals” have used divisive tactics in separating children from their families in the name of “Child Welfare.” The fact that they are saking for more money is, in my opinion, “Extortion.” No matter how it is framed, money is wasted at the current pace KVC and, the Department of Health and Human Services,are removing children from their parents and terminating parental rights. I have always been a proponent of wrap around services to provide assessment and prevention,when at all possible and KVC has no concept, it seems, as to how to keep families together before making a life determining decision in the children’s and parents lives. The tax payers of Nebraska, including myself, are victims of the attitude and, at times in my own experience, the malicious, decisions grounded in untruths and misleading statements to the Juvenile Court. Finally, I believe in Safety and Protection of Children and I believe there are times when parents are not able to provide for their children, however, KVC seems to generalize too many parents as not being able based on their clinically untrained eyes.