Leadership Matters

In 2008, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services launched a massive effort to privatize the delivery of child welfare services. While certainly lawmakers had hoped to save taxpayer dollars, the major impetus for this effort was to address the fact Nebraska has one of the highest rates in the U.S. of children in out-of-home care. In November of 2009, five lead agencies were selected to deliver and coordinate child welfare services across the state. Two years later, all but one of these lead agencies, the Nebraska Families Collaborative (NFC), had either gone bankrupt or ended their contract. Dave Newell, president & chief executive officer of the NFC, will join us to discuss the leadership challenges he has encountered since joining the NFC’s leadership team in 2010, and the leadership skills he has found to be the most helpful in securing the sustained success of his agency and the public/private partnership it entails.