Our Children Are Not Numbers in a State Budget” | Nebraska Disability Crisis

“Our children are not numbers in a state budget. They’re human beings.”

Mike Browne, vice chair of Nebraska’s Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee and a father of two adult sons with profound disabilities, delivers a powerful message about dignity, humanity and the future of disability services in Nebraska.

At a roundtable with gubernatorial candidate Lynne Walz, Browne warns that Nebraska risks abandoning its decades-long commitment to caring for people with developmental disabilities.

“Their disabilities do not diminish their humanity.”

Watch the full roundtable on The Dan Parsons Show.

Beyond the Headlines.

#Nebraska #DisabilityRights #DevelopmentalDisabilities #MikeBrowne #TheDanParsonsShow #NebraskaPolitics

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$1 Million for Public Records. Can DHHS Prove Its Estimate?

$1 Million for Public Records. Can DHHS Prove Its Estimate?

Oct 21, 2026 |

$1 million and a 50-year wait for public records? Attorney Daniel Gutman explains why he believes a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling in the Flatwater Free Press case provides a path to challenge DHHS’s estimate, and requires the agency to justify its numbers.

Watch the full interview with Gutman and parent Curt Safranek on YouTube @danparsonsshow or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

#Nebraska #DHHS #DevelopmentalDisabilities #DisabilityRights #DisabilityAdvocacy #FamilyCaregivers #PublicRecords #GovernmentAccountability

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Nearly $1 Million. A 50-Year Wait. Nebraska Father Sues DHHS for Records.

Nearly $1 Million. A 50-Year Wait. Nebraska Father Sues DHHS for Records.

Oct 20, 2026 |

Curt Safranek wanted answers about Nebraska’s developmental disability services. DHHS responded to his public records request with an estimate of nearly $1 million—and a completion date in 2076.
Even after he narrowed the request, the estimate remained nearly half a million dollars, with a 25-year wait.

Safranek and his attorney, Daniel Gutman, join Dan Parsons to discuss the lawsuit, the services Curt’s 24-year-old son Will depends on, and why families are demanding transparency.

The records concern communications surrounding a proposed $420,000 consulting contract to review Nebraska’s controversial interRAI assessment system. Safranek explains his concerns about the review’s independence, while Gutman outlines their challenge to the state’s cost and time estimates.

What does accountability look like—and what happens to families while they wait?

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#Nebraska #DHHS #PublicRecords #DevelopmentalDisabilities #TheDanParsonsShow

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