- Nebraska ended its disability services contract with the League of Human Dignity on April 1
- The state moved service coordination in-house to save more than $7 million
- Neighbors worry the change will lead to fewer care hours and lower quality service
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – The League of Human Dignity, which coordinated state services for people with disabilities, had its contract with the state end on Wed., April 1.
The Department of Health and Human Services decided to move service coordination in-house. Erin Maier with DHHS said in a statement that the change moves “service coordination in-house as part of our commitment to delivering efficient, high-quality services to Nebraskans.”
Nebraska is saving more than $7 million by making the move. The change comes one day after lawmakers in Lincoln passed the budget, reducing the state's deficit to under $40 million.
Keystone neighbor Jemima Menkhus relied on a caseworker from the League of Human Dignity to help her navigate services from the state. Menkhus said before the change, she received more than 90 hours of care per week. Now, she faces an unknown number of hours.
"Oh, I will never get the kind of service that I had from the league," Menkhus said."You trust them to want to find you the care that you need."
In February, when news broke that the contract with DHHS was ending, KMTV first met South Central Omaha neighbor Tricia Gushard. She gets paid to care for her 26-year-old son, Elijah. Gushard said she now receives less pay to do the same amount of work.
"So then if we talk about, we're gonna go ahead and cut the hours even further, this is what we're gonna have, and that's not gonna help us to provide the kind of care he needs," Gushard said.
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