Pillen keeping head of Nebraska DHHS, 2 more Ricketts-era leaders

Nebraska Gov.-elect Jim Pillen introduced Friday that he would maintain three extra members of Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration, bringing the full variety of retained Ricketts appointees to 11.

Kelly Lammers will proceed in his function because the director of the Nebraska Division of Banking and Finance, and Tom Riley will stay because the director of the Nebraska Division of Pure Sources. Dannette Smith, who has led the Nebraska Division of Well being and Human Providers by means of a sequence of controversies over the previous three years, additionally shall be retained.

Lammers was appointed to the director place in 2020, however he has labored on the division in various roles since 1984. Pillen mentioned in a press launch that Lammers made the division “run extra like a enterprise” throughout his tenure, and that he seems to be ahead to working with Lammers to chop pink tape and develop the banking trade.

Riley, who additionally was appointed in 2020, shall be a “essential chief” in Pillen’s administration, based on a press launch. Previous to his work with the division, Riley based and served because the president of the Flatwater Group, an environmental consulting agency specializing in water sources and environmental engineering.

Pillen mentioned Riley will assist advance the Perkins County Canal, a canal and reservoir venture that may deliver South Platte River water in Colorado to Nebraska. The proposal is printed in a century-old compact between the 2 states. Ricketts revived the venture earlier this yr, a transfer that drew criticism from Colorado officers. A just lately accomplished examine discovered the venture might price the state greater than $600 million.

“Tom has proven visionary management in preventing to protect and shield our state’s most valuable useful resource, our water,” Pillen mentioned. “He has labored for years with Nebraska stakeholders on the Perkins water venture.”

Smith was appointed to her place main DHHS in early 2019. Earlier than coming to Nebraska, she held prime positions at human providers departments in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington state and Georgia. In 2019, she mentioned fiscal administration and powerful contracting processes have been key priorities.

However her tenure has coincided with a number of controversies, starting with the rollout of Medicaid growth. Voters overwhelmingly accepted growth of Medicaid providers in November 2018, however Nebraskans couldn’t enroll for the expanded advantages till October 2020.

Smith defended the tempo, saying on the time that it was “vital {that a} monumental enterprise akin to Medicaid growth be customer-centered and be delivered in a deliberate and considerate method.”

In 2021, a report from Nebraska’s state ombudsman and the inspector basic of Nebraska Little one Welfare faulted “failures within the programs and management of the state” for inflicting a disaster at a now-closed youth detention facility for feminine juvenile offenders in Geneva. HHS oversees juvenile detention amenities within the state.

Smith additionally led DHHS throughout the transition to St. Francis Ministries for little one welfare providers within the Omaha space. In July 2019, simply months after she was appointed, Smith accepted a $197 million contract with St. Francis — a bid that was 60% decrease than the Omaha-based contractor that had managed little one welfare for nearly a decade.

St. Francis by no means complied with key necessities of its contract, together with caseload limits for social staff set by state regulation. It additionally required an emergency contract that worn out the preliminary price financial savings. In December 2021, HHS terminated the contract and transitioned duties again to the state, ending a 12-year experiment with privatizing little one welfare providers.

In a latest opinion piece by Smith, she mentioned the transition again to the state has been “nicely deliberate and carried out.” She mentioned new hires have diminished staffing shortages, placing the division on the trail to changing into caseload compliant.

Smith’s piece adopted reporting by The World-Herald that discovered the kid welfare state of affairs had worsened in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, regardless of the state taking again accountability for these instances.

Pillen mentioned in a press launch that Smith “believes within the significance of public service and can proceed to make the division extra customer-oriented.”