State drops contract with Omni Behavioral Health
By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Jun 28, 2008 - 12:20:46 am CDT
Omni Behavioral Health will not be one of the private agencies working with troubled families when the state begins its new contract arrangement next week.
By July 1, the Health and Human Services Department will contract with fewer than a half-dozen private agencies to provide all in-home and emergency services to families in jeopardy of losing their children because of neglect and abuse.
In the past, the state had more than 100 contracts.
Omni had been on the list of agencies with contracts to provide services in the Lincoln and Omaha regions.
But the state decided not to contract with Omni after the company refused to “accept all referrals,” said Todd Landry, director of the Division of Children and Family Services, a part of Health and Human Services.
Omni Executive Director Bill Reay said the state wanted to put a cap on the amount of money the agency would be paid, but would not allow a cap on the number of families an agency would serve.
“They capped the expenditures, but you have to serve everyone,” he said.
Omni had originally bid successfully to provide services in four of the six regions. After several weeks of negotiations, Omni was listed as a contractor in two regions, Eastern (Omaha) and Southeast.
This week, the state dropped Omni from the list of bidders.
Omni has about 60 open cases in Southeast Nebraska that must be taken over by the remaining two contract agencies July 7, Reay said.
And there is no plan for this transition, he said.
But HHS spokeswoman Jeanne Atkinson said the two contract agencies in Southeast Nebraska — Visinet and Cedars Youth Services — will take over those cases.
In the Eastern service area, Visinet, Boys Town and Child Saving Institute will provide services, according to information provided by HHS.
Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.
Tags: agencies, Cedars Youth Services, Health and Human Services Department, Omni, Omni Behavioral Health, Visinet
