By TIMBERLY ROSS

Associated Press Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Kerry Winterer considers himself an outsider to state government.

He sees that, combined with his background as a lawyer and businessman, as an asset in his new job heading the state's largest agency: the Department of Health and Human Services.

"What I would like people to see me as is, kinda, their person in this job," the 59-year-old Winterer said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. "I don't come from state government. I don't have a vested interest in any particular program or any particular function that the department does."

So, he said, he can be accountable and responsive to the public.

But it has not been a smooth ride so far. In the past year, the department has taken heat for its management of the Beatrice State Development Center, oversight of the child welfare system and accessibility of mental health services. Plus, the department has been in the spotlight as it handles the fallout from Nebraska's first safe-haven law, which left dozens of teens and preteens abandoned at hospitals, and leads the state's response to swine flu.

Winterer has served on Nebraska's education board and run unsuccessfully for a seat in the Legislature. But until now, his involvement with state government hasn't come close to the burdens of a vast state department that has an annual budget of $2.9 billion and employs about 5,500 workers.

Winterer, who grew up in Gering and lives in Omaha, has helped set up and operate The Benefit Group Inc., a company that administers health care for small businesses, and consulting firm Moran Resources.

His predecessor, Christine Peterson, worked for the department since 1999 and led it through a massive overhaul in 2007.

Winterer faced a steep learning curve when he took over as chief executive four months ago.

"Every day is a learning experience as I walk in and find something that we do that I didn't know the day before that we did," he said.

Winterer recalled saying to his administrative assistant Bonnie Engel on his first day: "There must be some kind of manual or CEO's book or something like that."

There wasn't, and Winterer has crafted a self-guided tutorial of his role in the department. He meets often with the leaders of its six divisions and has been getting to know his peers in other state agencies.

"There's something like 900 references in the state statutes to things that the department should be doing or some kind of mandate or some kind of report or some kind of program we should be doing. That's not something that you learn in one night. It's something you have to learn day by day by day," he said.

With Winterer's inexperience as a state administrator, there have been rumblings that the appointment by Republican Gov. Dave Heineman was due to Winterer's political ties. He previously chaired the Nebraska Republican Party.

Winterer wouldn't speak about politics, but said his personal relationships with state senators are a good thing for the department.

"So much of what we do, I think, depends upon good relationships with the Legislature. ... Regardless of how you might want to paint that in terms of partisan or politics or whatever, I think it just makes sense to have somebody there who has a good reputation and good relationships with legislators and with the business community and with the public in general," he said.

For now, Winterer's focus is on cleaning up the department's recent messes.

The Beatrice center has faced hundreds of allegations of abuse and neglect in recent years and lost $29 million annually in federal funding. State officials hope to be re-certified by the federal government by 2011.

The department recently changed the protocol for handling child welfare calls, in light of the July death of a 12-year-old Omaha boy. Michael Belitz was found dead in a bathtub with his wrists and legs bound together with duct tape. His mother, Angela Manns, has been charged with first-degree murder. The state has said Manns left a message for Health and Human Services at the end of March asking about foster care and other options. The caseworker called back and left a message but didn't hear back from Manns.

The department is in the process of implementing a new state law, prompted by the safe-haven drop-offs, that expands counseling, creates a statewide hotline and provides other services for families who adopt foster kids.

Winterer is also making it a priority to improve the department's image. He stressed the need for better communication with the public, transparency and accountability.

"Frequently we find ourselves in the headlines because of some issue or problem and that's all OK because we are accountable to the public and we need to be questioned, I think, when the public's concerned," he said. "But at the same time, I think the department doesn't typically get recognized for all the good things that we do.

"... We touch every person in the state of Nebraska in one way or another virtually every day."

On the Net:

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services:

http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/