Nebraska advances bill to review procurement practices

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers moved ahead Friday with a plan to review the state’s procurement practices after facing multi-million-dollar problems with a child welfare provider that overpromised and underdelivered. 

Lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would require the state to hire an outside consultant to conduct the study.

The measure by Sen. John Arch, chairman of the Legislature’s Heath and Human Services Committee, comes in response to Nebraska’s problems with Kansas-based St. Francis Ministries. St. Francis was a state contractor that oversaw the care of abused and neglected children in Douglas and Sarpy counties in the Omaha area.

St. Francis won its contract in 2019 after offering to provide services for less than 60% of the bid from PromiseShip, an Omaha-based agency that held the previous contract. Some state officials at the time questioned the bid, which turned out to be wildly low.

The state later initially agreed to to pay St. Francis Ministries $197 million over five years. St. Francis later approached the state with a request to cover an additional $25 million shortfall for one of those years to keep the group from running out of money.